Fiery Furnaces

I Love Lucy seemed like they had some potential to be a good pop band. I talked to the drummer for a bit, and he was telling me that they weren't signed yet. Somebody really ought to snap them up.

Man, I wish I knew what you folks looked like. I was all alone the whole night cos my friends had to bail due to a) illness b) the hassle of the L train not working after midnight c) birthday parties.

I bet the Fiery Furnaces were nervous, Geeta. Eleanor seemed a little uneasy, and I get the feeling that they aren't comfortable with their new drummer and keyboard player. At one point Matt yelled at the other guy for starting a song with the wrong chord, and then on the last song, Eleanor had to step over to block the guy's hand so that he'd stop playing for a moment to make one part of the song more dynamic. Maybe they will fire him too.

So, Franz Ferdinand--a little too grim for me, for the most part. I liked the the more dancey songs, they were alright. I loved the pint-sized powerhouse on stage left. He looked like he could have been in the Dave Clark Five. And the drummer was cute. Did you see the band before that? They were the weirdest twee pop band I've seen in ages. The singer had this mincing Jeremy Piven thing going on, it was quite captivating after awhile.

The songs weren't half bad for twee pop. There was one song in the middle which I'd really love to get a recording of - I think it was called "I Want A Girl" or something like that.

If you use Soulseek, I have all of my FF rarities shared, including the b-sides to the Crystal Clear single. I'm "perpetua" there.

The new version is sooooo great!

UGH IT'S AWFUL WHY DID THEY DO THAT??

OK!!

here's what I said:

fiery furnaces were great, btw. they played 'coffee + TV' and 'baby elephant walk' and everything.
-- RJG (r_gillander...), February 22nd, 2004 1:39 AM. (RJG) (later)

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and the girl is hawt.
-- RJG (r_gillander...), February 22nd, 2004 1:40 AM. (RJG) (later)

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and the guy looks like a cross between my flatmate's boyf and a friend of mine's boyf.
-- RJG (r_gillander...), February 22nd, 2004 1:40 AM. (RJG) (later)

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I write better tunes, though.
-- RJG (r_gillander...), February 22nd, 2004 1:40 AM. (RJG) (later)

the guy looks like xander

This song is good, not as good as the high points of their oeuvre but little is

Anyone buying tickets to these new shows? I don’t think I’ll have a fully vaccinated household yet by November (and they’re playing in like my least favorite L.A. venue).

I don't mind the El Rey that much, but after seeing them several times back then I'm kinda unexcited? I want to hear how the shows are first. I'm there if they play all of Blueberry Boat.

Fred Armisen on the bill is a huge turn-off.

i have never seen them and hope to one day. i just can't see being inside for a show at the moment and i'm vaccinated. if this was outdoors i might have been more tempted.

I wouldn’t mind seeing them but I’m not going to Brooklyn this year

(Or to any shows this year honestly)

yah, I should reiterate that I'm not going to any shows this year too.

Anyone see any of the shows? Looks like they’re back in the studio (per Eleanor’s Instagram).

I poked around to see if they’ve done any new interviews, but none that I can find. That’s interesting to me—they did a lot of press back in the day, Matt always had a lot to say, they were very active online, etc. Now, their “engagement” seems limited to Eleanor’s social media… Matt is silent, as far as I can tell.

An interviewer would almost surely ask them why they went on such an abrupt (and lengthy) hiatus, and maybe they don’t want to talk about that? There must be a story there. It’s not like they just petered out… they had various projects going in 2009:

The last time we talked you had an extravagant rock opera in the works. Do you still have plans to do this?

MF: We are going to do that. Eleanor was never into it, but now, since we have put out our regular record, we’ll be doing these short little operas live. We might record them live, or eventually record them in the studio, but it won’t be a part of our normal record releasing cycle. Does that make any sense? So we’ll play a different set of shows in which we present our rock opera and maybe we’ll put it out in some form, but really it’s about playing it. Then we have our normal records on the side.

So then what’s the Democracy in America project all about?

MF: That’s a different thing too. It’s actually Dem-Rock-cracy in America. But the next thing we have is a silent record where we don’t provide any audio. In other words, we have a record but the fans play the songs. It will be in book form with sheet music and instructions. Dem-Rock-cracy is a set of us playing music written or determined by things that fans have given us, like bits of paper from their purse or receipts. It’ll be a normal recording, but first it will just be vinyl.

I suspect the spigot will open again once the album is on the verge of coming out, or once wider touring is underway at least.

tickets are half off on goldstar for the la show! im def going to check it out. ill come back with a report keeping mind i only ever heard blueberry boat and loved it but forgot it.

But the next thing we have is a silent record where we don’t provide any audio. In other words, we have a record but the fans play the songs. It will be in book form with sheet music and instructions.

interpreting beck actually doing this a few years later as a continuation of that weird feud they had going for a little bit

Ah - I thought the L.A. show was this past week. I’m tempted, but a Wed. night show is pretty rough stuff…

New live album for Bandcamp Day
https://thefieryfurnaces.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-in-my-head

^^for anyone who's never checked this out... it absolutely rips. 0 guitars, 0 overdubs, 100% rock 'n f'n roll!

(wish I had seen them on that tour)

their website and bandcamp page have slightly different tour dates listed (and the bandcamp has them playing in London and Utrecht on the same date)

OCTOBER 10 Kingston, NY Old Dutch Church

NOVEMBER 6 LONDON, UK PITCHFORK LONDON

NOVEMBER 7 BRUSSELS, BE BOTANIQUE

NOVEMBER 8 UTRECHT, NL LE GUESS WHO?

And I'm glad to see they updated this press photo
https://i.discogs.com/4I3ipcni-gcXi0WkPI1M2K3-OxEt5g4D4iDfWy9pJyg/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:368/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9BLTIwMjYw/Ny0xMTQzNTY1MDk3/LmpwZWc.jpeg
https://botanique.be/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2025-05/FF%20Car%202025.jpeg?itok=2ZHEJ2vG

lmao at her both looking the same and now driving the car. poor matthew

wait, Remember is the greatest shit ever? and none of you told me?

have found my way to The Diabolical Principle. so many final bosses, so little warning

Saw them in Kingston on Friday. Played as a duo, just piano and vocals. They were clearly still working out the arrangements, and it was the first time I've ever seen Eleanor seem lacking in confidence, but they packed in so many great songs/melodies/moments. I was sitting with some people who were not familiar with them at all, and several lyrics caused them to laugh out loud, which I think is the right response.

i've never listened to this band, but my friend bought two tickets and asked me to accompany him to their show last night. it was incredible. same piano and vocals set that mizzell saw a year ago. i was giggling and smiling the entire time. i'm listening to their recordings now, and while i get the appeal of the chaotic/skronky full band sound, i think the material really shines in the current live set's format, because it puts the (hilarious) lyrics and eleanor's singing front and center. it almost felt more like a poetry reading than a live set. can't recommend it highly enough