Confidence, or perhaps arrogance, has always been a defining
part of great rock ‘n’ roll bands. But Fiery Furnaces,
a bluesy, psychedelic rock duo playing at The Echo on Jan. 30, is
more concerned about making funny noises than filling Madison
Square Garden.
“I don’t know if we have any fans,” said
Matthew Friedberger, the modest
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist for the band.
The Furnaces’ other half is Eleanor Friedberger, who is
Matthew’s sister as well as a guitarist and songwriter. Their
debut album, last year’s “Gallowsbird’s
Bark,” was a collection of eclectic rock songs filled with
strange sounds. Rollicking pianos and sputtering guitars dance
around each other like drunks at a tavern.
“We’d have a washboard maraca player, all this
nonsense, and bring it together and hopefully sound like something
poppy and fun and slightly unfamiliar,” Matthew said.
From a young age, Matthew has been interested in making
“funny sounds.” He played piano and had bass lessons as
a child before moving on to guitar and other instruments. His
sister, however, learned from him. Matthew bought her a guitar and
told her, “You like songs? You should make up some
yourself.”
Soon the siblings were writing and playing music together.
Matthew had played in several bands before, and having created a
musical partner for himself, forming the Fiery Furnaces was the
next logical step.
“You’re not sitting in some basement at some point
saying, “˜What the hell am I doing in a room with this
person?’ If that comes up with your sister, then you
remember, “˜Oh yeah, she’s my sister,'”
Matthew said. “It makes it more natural.”
The Fiery Furnaces are deeply rooted in the sounds of classic
rock musicians like The Who and Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett, as
well as the blues traditions of artists like Bo Diddley.
“Gallowsbird’s Bark” includes White Stripes-esque
tracks like “I’m Gonna Run” and the hazy folk of
“Tropical Iceland.” With this often chaotic merging of
influences, the Furnaces are really just concerned with making
enjoyable music a little out of the ordinary.
“People try to categorize you or describe you,”
Matthew said. “We play simple rock songs, and we try to mess
them up to be interesting ““ it’s been a standard way to
do things since 1966.”
At the core of the music of the Fiery Furnaces is this sense of
fun and need to keep things interesting. Even while acknowledging
their influences, Friedberger often mentioned the quirks over the
actual songwriting.
“I do like Brian Jones-ism,” he said of the style of
the one-time Rolling Stones member, “where he would play on
anything, try to have some little funny sound added to whatever
(Mick) Jagger and (Keith) Richards were trying to imitate that
day.”
The “Gallowsbird’s Bark” song “Bow
Wow” was re-recorded after an initial “rock and
roll-y” attempt to make it “as hokey as
possible.”
The story behind the album’s name further reflects the
band’s nonsensical side. Not wanting to name it after a song
or lyric, Friedberger made up the title from something he had
read.
“A gallowsbird is someone swinging from the gallows,
someone who’s dead or deserves to be hung, you know, a
scoundrel,” Matthew said. “I thought bird’s bark
as opposed to bird’s song was a good description of what rock
music is supposed to sound like ““ not a bird singing but a
bird barking.”
If that’s true, the Fiery Furnaces are barking as loud as
they can.
The Fiery Furnaces perform at The Echo on Jan. 30 at 9 p.m.
Tickets are $10. Go to www.attheecho.com for more
information.