Night Of The Furies

Recommended for listeners of:  New Order, Blondie, Duran Duran, Shout Out Louds, Simple Minds, U2, REM, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Soft Cell, OMD, Mary Onettes, moi Caprice, The Smiths, Red Flag, Peter Murphy, The French Kicks, Erasure, When In Rome, The Fiery Furnaces, Moving Units,Radio Dept.,

Release Date:10th April, 2007
Label / Distributor: Merge Records
Performers: Ivan Howard (vocals/guitar/ drums/ bass/keyboards/programming), Kelly Crisp (vocals/keyboard/drums/guitar)
Production and Engineering: Roger O’Donnell (formerly of The Cure), Dean and Britta (formerly of Luna), Gary Go, namelessnumberheadman and Mark Saunders.

Track Review

1. My Punishment For Fighting
From the opening bars of guitar strums over a strong 80s backbeat, the intention is clear, The Rosebuds have adopted a danceable approach on Night of Furries. The first sign of vocals is the "Ah ah ah ah...." harmony vocals over an added disco bass groove. Harmony vocals are pasted all over this album to give it that deliciously sweet pop feel without sounding overdone.  The near perfect dry baritone vocals by Ivan Howards in the verses reminds us they are subtle in the conversion to indie disco pop. His voice sounds like dry melodic cross between Leonard Cohen and Ian Curtis (Joy Division). On the chorus he sings a strong melody in much higher voice. The chorus is big but only slightly as Howard emotes here like James' Tim Booth or Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant. The music has an underlying dark edge which prevents it from sounding too poppy. This holds throughout the record making it highly adictive and ineteresting.

2. Cemetery Lawn
Honestly the first thing that came to mind when I heard this was the dance indie grooves and melodies of Sweden's Shout Out Louds. It is actually closer to Republic era New Order in feel but the keyboard fills suggest earlier New Order. A higly danceable track with the occasional "woh ohh wooo!" chant. A clear indication from Rosebuds here is that guitars have taken a back seat. Kelly Crisp drops a two line vocal into the mix for a good but short change in the middle of the song. Considering the title is "Cemetary Lawn", the is higly joyous song.

3. I Better Run
Kick drums begin one of the catchiest tracks on the record. Some sprinkling guiatrs layered over for good measure. This may be the last of the guiatrs on this track. This track is made for remix and stands on it's own in the club. Kelly Crisp does the singing on this track. Her voice is much like any of the female singers who were members of Beautiful South, Hooverphonic's Geike Arnaert or Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn. This track certainly has that Everything But The Girl or danceable Hoverphonics feel. What is interesting is the slightly gothic nature of the lyrics on this track, Crisp sings about family dead or alive. She sings is almost disdain for them, not caring too much if they are dead or alive. The feeling is that this is about drug use and children's reaction to it. Again a dark theme to gorgeausly lush track.  A top track on this record!!

4. Get Up Get Out
Synth-pop flavored much like 80s New Order. The keyboard strings sound similar to the strings on New Order tracks like "Thieves Like Us"or "Perfect Kiss". Howards vocals in the chorus are also sung in Bernard Sumner fashion. The line "Let's dance in the ash of the big chimneys" is a silly line much like some of Sumners lyrics as well. Other  than the odd guitar strum  Almost all of the music on this track is electronic. The New Order influence may pervade this song but it is good homage to a legendary band. Danceable, catchy and likeable.

5. Silence By The Lakeside
It's sad that magical pop music like this is not heard on radio these days. Perfection in song is hard to find, The Rosebuds have done just that with the lush masterpiece Silence By The Lakeside. It starts with a haunting "Wooo Wooo..Woo.." harmony vocals over a drifting deep melodic bass groove over basic drums. Then Ivan Howards swaggers his vocals over it, with simple, subtle melodies that give the song a dreamy and  floating feel. The other instrumentation such as the strings and single strum guitars add to the haunting feel of the music.  The "Wooo Wooo..Woo.." background harmony vocals are a continuos and delightful feature.

6. Hold On To This Coat
Electronic beats and bass drive this song from the word go.  There are some acoustic guitars in the mix which add to the melodic tecture. The backbeat is much like Everything But The Girl. Considering Rosebuds is a two piece and male and female, they may be taking off from where Everything But The Girl left off. Howards vocals here are delicate and dry, contrasting trippy club beats. The is also the harmony "Ahhhhhhhh Ahhhhhhhhhhh" and "WoooooWooooWooo" vocals thrown in for consistency.   It is music made for fans who have The Smiths, New Order, Depeche Mode and some trance in their collection.

7. Silja Line
Some acoustic guitars..more like the old Rosebuds. Some now trademark "woooooo woooo" is layered on in haunting fashion. Silja Line (Tallink Silja Oy) is a Finnish shipping company owned as of 2006 by the Estonian ferry operator Tallink. Silja Line was previously owned by the shipping company Sea Containers LLC. The Silja Line operates between Helsinki and Stockholm. The relevance of this may only be for story telling purposes from a ship captain's perspective. The song maintains it's mellow acoustic feel for just over two until the drums kick in to end with a chorus of sorts. The chorus  is delivered in choir like but gothic fashion.

8. When The Lights Went Dim
Electronic beats and distorted bass drive the second track Kelly Crisp sings on in entirity. She does so with a slight of urgency and angst in her voice. It matches the backing music well as this song feels a bit darker than the rest. It is still club oriented but with agothic feel. It sounds like cross between Faith and The Muse and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The harmony vocals and layers of keyboards also find themselves on this track.

9. Night of The Furies
If not the best track on this record, for its gorgious textures and haunting melodies.  The advantage of The ROsebuds over other groups is that they blessed with angel winged vocal chords. The harmony vocals and backup melodies on this track are stunning. Used in beautiful intertwining layers over and along with shoegazer guitars like guitars will sends shivers up your spine.This is done over a strong bouncing beat and a repeating Zooropa era Adam Clayton bass groove. A perfect example of the power of the pop composition.

Why We Recommend This?
quot;Night of the Furies" is one of those records that take will you in immediately if you like good vocals and melodies. After a few listens choosing a bad track maybe a difficult call, maybe choosing your favorites would be easier. Much could be said about the new Scandanavian pop-indie movement that has produced Pete, Bjorn and John and The Shout Out Louds. Rosebuds seems to have fallen in love with this movement and have taken their melodic elements to new levels by incorporating it into their music. This record easily sits alongside those being popped out of Swedish label Labrador. These bands have been experimenting with the sound of pop music by incorporating 80s influences with acoustics and electronics. It could be said that in 2007 music globally is at a higher level of creativity than ever before. So it is refreshing to hear bands refining the sound of pop music albeit it may never be heard on pop radio.

Listen Online
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Videos
The Rosebuds - Silence By The Lakeside Clip
The Rosebuds - Night Of The Furies

Buy The Rosebuds - Night of the Furies 

Short Artist Biography
Country: USA
City: Raleigh, North Carolina
Year Formed: 2001

The Rosebuds are an indie rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its current members are Ivan Howard (vocals/guitar/ drums/ bass/keyboards/programming) and Kelly Crisp (vocals/keyboard/drums/guitar). Billy Alphin had played drums on the album The Rosebuds Make Out and Lee Waters played drums on the record Birds Make Good Neighbors.

Howard and Crisp met while in college in Wilmington, North Carolina. That fall, they moved to nearby Raleigh and joined with drummer Billy Alphin to form The Rosebuds. Merge Records discovered their demo in early 2003 and released The Rosebuds Make Out as a full-length debut album that October.

Following that recording, Alphin left the group and was replaced by Jonathan Bass for their 2003 touring schedule. The Rosebuds Unwind, an EP with six songs, was released in April 2005, followed by Birds Make Good Neighbors in September. The Rosebuds are now joined by Giorgio Angelini and Matt McCaughan on drums for shows and tours. According to their website, they have recently finished recording their latest album which is currently in the mixing process and should be released in April of 2007. In the premiere episode of the series Dirt, in one scene the song "4-Track Love Song" off of Birds Make Good Neighbors is played in the background.

For More Information
Wikipedia
Official Web Site