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The Neil Young and Beatles influences are laid bare, the quirkiness is now more tuneful than cerebral, and the band has surrendered to the basic human craving for candied country melodies.
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85Blitzen Trapper are no longer talented jacks-of-all-trades, but a master of one, and Furr is proof that this already-great band gets even better as they define themselves more specifically.
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84Furr's tight structures and stripped bones soar. Not that they've abandoned that record's ["Wild Mountain Nation"] sonic spectrum entirely; there's plenty of buried headphones treasures throughout, and they still steal gleefully from your parents' best records. [Fall 2008, p.92]
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There's no room for filler here; momentum carries on and roams wide but never eases.
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Furr is the work of an assured band that are in confident command of their craft.
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Blitzen Trapper's first release for Sub Pop doesn't just improve upon the promise of WMN, it expands its sonic horizons as well, narrowing the mixtape glee that fueled its predecessor with just enough maturity to lend it considerable weight.
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Throughout the album, Blitzen keep their songs highly tuneful, making Furr a breakthrough worthy of toasting with a microbrew, or several.
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80Their determination to leave no musical stone unturned means Furr is substantially more fun than is normally expected from Dylan-loving Americans with an affection for facial hair.
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80Furr is a brilliant and hard-earned combination of ambition and craft, two qualities albums rarely have at the same time in the oversaturated age of ProTools.
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Blitzen Trapper's fourth album and Sub Pop debut delivers a more polished, coherent vision while not sacrificing the Portland sextet's vividly eclectic contortions through alt-folk and garage rock.
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Furr still finds Blitzen Trapper as a band that's relentlessly restless, just one that's purposefully that way.
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70Singer-guitarist Eric Earley accesses the haunted Americana Wilco nailed on "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," with big nods to mid-'60s Bob Dylan, early-'70s Neil Young and the country Grateful Dead. [Oct 2008, p.78]
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70The band's freak-out, slacker glam jams return, but it's Earley's comparatively focused alt-country side that impresses.
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70Furr is a more consistent body of work, a perfect fall soundtrack rife with woodsy imagery.
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70Enjoying Furr, then, depends entirely on your ability (or willingness) to ignore the heavy footprints of familiar musicians.
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While there isn't anything as blisteringly heavy as 'Woof & Warp of the Quiet Giant's Hem,' as gritty and grimy as 'Miss Spiritual Tramp,' or even as trippy and psychedelic as 'Hot Tip/Tough Cub,' there is still plenty to love on Furr.
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It's good where it has to be good and it hits the notes it's supposed to, but other than that it's tough to find Furr inspiring in any way, especially with such a specifically backwards-looking strategy employed.
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There's enough diverse material here and in the past to build your own army of darkness. [Fall 2008, p.74]
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To the band's credit, the album does warm-up to the listener with consecutive listens, but Blitzen Trapper will have to play some reputable live shows in order to distinguish themselves from the indie rock masses.
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Furr is country-chic posturing that works from a distance: as twangy background music for those elites who watch their politics on MSNBC.
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60They've topped up every track with so many hooks and contemporary indie rock clichés that their new songs sometimes go right past catchy into corny.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 5
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Mixed: 0 out of 5
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Negative: 0 out of 5
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MarkR10Boring! I don't care how great the lyrics are if the music puts me to sleep.
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EricC.8Wild Mountain Nation may still be their best album, but my god, can they craft a great rock album.
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MarkS.9