The Fiery Furnaces
Take Me Round Again
Thrill Jockey

The Fiery Furnaces, a preferred band of people who wear scarves indoors and say the word “interesting,” are a lot like the annoying kid from school that said something funny once and would never shut up again. Gallowsbird’s Bark came out in the indie renaissance of 2003, and it fit in to the landscape pretty well with odd guitars and smart person lyrics: a cleaned-up take on free jazz-meets-freakout rock. It’s been a wicked reversion ever since.

Take Me Round Again, which is actually just solo covers by brother and sister combo Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger of select songs from the Furnaces’ last record I’m Going Away, is a self-indulgent trip by hyped-up hacks that have done little to justify their egos and even less to justify a second pass at songs that were pedestrian to begin with. High points, which are a relative term on Round Again, are confined to “Take Me Round Again” and “Cut the Cake,” which play like Wilco and Raconteurs album filler (respectively), but with just a fraction of the passion. As for the rest of the record, glaciers carving out land formations have moved with more urgency.

The Fiery Furnaces have fooled too many people for too long. Soon they’re going to be out to get you. So you’d better get going if you know what’s good for you. Dig in. Turn off. Drop out. This shit sucked when it was called The Carpenters, and it still sucks now.

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