Plague Park

Today's Music of the Day is the Handsome Furs' Plague Park. This album was loaned to me, and is the first new (to me, anyway) album that I have listened to in CD format in some time.

The Handsome Furs consist of Dan Boeckner (of Wolf Parade fame) and Alexei Perry, playing guitar and keyboard, respectively. Boeckner contributes the vocals as well; the voice should be recognizable to anyone who has heard Apologies to the Queen Mary. The sound here, compared to Wolf Parade, is fairly minimal - outside of the guitar, keyboard, and vocals, a drum machine powers most of the tracks.

It's a fairly simple concept, in terms of musical interaction, but the album is solid. Standout tracks are the opener - "What We Had" and "Dead + Rural", but there really aren't weak links so much as tracks that are less dramatic. The album as a whole is relatively morose - not hard to listen to, just not as bouncy as an album by Wolf Parade or even, say, TV on the Radio.

In short: Maybe this isn't everyone's album, but it's a good if sober listen.

In Other News:
I feel like I'm not doing this album justice. It's a bit of a niche album but definitely worth listening to. I can see some people hating it, though.

Support Your Local Catgun is likely going to go on hiatus after post #250, which should occur sometime before the end of the month. There are too many other things vying for my time and attention at present, but hopefully the blog will not wither and die.

Go outside today.