One of the most enjoyable elements on Ezra Furman & the Harpoons’ first album, 2007’s Banging Down the Doors (Minty Fresh), is Ezra’s sense of command and almost cocky delivery in each and every tune. The mind evokes a charismatic, unforgiving front man ready to take on anything thrown at him.
However on this night, opening for The Walkmen with his troupe of fellow young vagabonds, Furman awkwardly approached the mic, murmured something unintelligible, wandered around loosely, almost as if he was lost, and began laughing at something the rest of us knew nothing of. His boyish charm and fragile demeanor seemed to comfort and intrigue the already large throng of people shoving their way to get a closer look.
The Dylan-by-way-of-Femmes “Take Off Your Sunglasses” (from the forthcoming Inside the Human Body) exploded in an almost Tom Petty glory through the venue and a transformation took place; the band thundered and smiled and Furman moved like a blowing sheet hung up on the microphone stand locking banshee-eyes with the hometown fans and projecting a fireproof personality.
Now through a few numbers, equal parts new and old (including numbers from the aforementioned Banging Down… and even a few from 2006’s self-released Beat Beat Beat), the band is locked in a groove that makes apparent a congenial goal of just having fun and, in turn, delivering confidence to Furman’s between-song banter, suddenly legible and entertaining, invoking a confessional,
“I used to hate people. All people. Then I started playing music…now I love people. So…thanks for coming.”
A caterwaul from the dedicated group, now numbering in the hundreds, and it was the new “The Worm in the Apple,” that solidified the entire set into something of importance. Though yet unknown to the majority, the words, “I’m gonna laugh at the top of my lungs/’Til I can’t quite remember just what the joke was/But the laughter will fill up my body with love,” was the perfect soliloquy for the night. Poetically he asked the onlookers to approach closer and subconsciously everyone abided.
The set escalated into the yelled, aggressive “Big Deal,” when all were informed that while, “…in a trance in France I learned to dance/and got me a piece of tail.” The dichotomy was striking but not unwelcome; it’s obvious that Furman has written these songs with nothing but himself and his unfortunate awkwardness in mind. It is in this musical prison that he feels free and able to express himself as he’s always wanted.
As the closing number, “God is a Middle-Aged Woman,” rang to an inevitable silence, one thing became apparent: Ezra Furman & The Harpoons are not doing anything new but, more importantly, something special. Without a crowd or record label, his songs would still exist, in one listenable form or another and electrify Furman in a way that is otherwise impossible. It is this fact that separates an artist from a simple recording artist.
– Luc Rodgers
Ezra Furman & the Harpoons: www.ezrafurman.com
Minty Fresh: www.mintyfresh.com
“Take Off Your Sunglasses” – Live in New York