Ezra Furman @ Solar Culture Saturday

After watching the Wildcats kick UCLA's ass tomorrow, I'm going to head downtown to check out Ezra Furman & The Harpoons at Solar Culture (though I can't blame anybody who picks Why? @ Congress).

I first heard of Furman a couple years ago via Paste writer and blogger Andy Whitman, who dared use the New Dylan tag, calling Furman untamed, freewheelin' and manic, and saying the then 20-year-old "sings like his skull is ready to explode." So, I checked out Furman's debut album, Banging Down the Doors, immediately. Whitman was right. I put "Hotel Room in Casablanca" on a mix, and grabbed Furman's follow-up, last year's Inside the Human Body.

Furman is the very definition of raw talent, putting together two fantastic albums before evening coming close to scraping up against his mid-20s. This is mostly acoustic music, but it's pulsating with adrenaline and urgency. His lyrics rush by, a stream of language covering more ground than I would have thought possible. And it's perfect for his rapid fire singing, unpolished and nasaly, but like John Darnielle or Jeff Mangum or Dylan himself, Furman can pack his voice with enough unhinged emotion to launch his songs into the stratosphere.

DOWNLOAD:
Ezra Furman - We Should Fight
Ezra Furman Live on NPR's World Cafe
Ezra Furman Live Daytrotter Session

LIVE:
Oct 24 – Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture
Oct 25 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Chyro Arts
Oct 27 – Norman, OK @ Opolis Coffee
Oct 28 – Houston, TX @ Walter’s on Washington
Oct 29 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
Oct 31 – Hot Springs, AR @ Maxine’s
Nov 1 – Little Rock, AR @ Juanita’s
Nov 3 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe
Nov 5 – Nashville, TN @ 3rd & Lindsley
Nov 6 – Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn
Nov 7 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
Nov 8 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern
Nov 11 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
Nov 12 – Stevens Point, WI @ The Encore – Univ of Wisconsin
Nov 13 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Nov 14 – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
Nov 17 – Columbia, MO @ MOJO’s
Nov 18 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
Nov 19 – St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird
Nov 20 – Indianapolis, IN @ Vollrath
Nov 27 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door

Grace Potter / Ezra Furman at Club Congress Tuesday

Photo by James Minchin

Here's a show that really crept up on me - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, at Club Congress Tuesday.

With both bands traveling a good long way to get here (Potter from Vermont and Furman from Chicago) and both relatively new - and on huge upswings - I'd bet this is the first show in Tucson for either one.

I'd heard a lot of good things about Grace Potter surrounding the Outside Lands Festival, but I opted for Broken Social Scene while she was on another stage.

Potter's sound is great - at times like The Band, or the Stones at their most Americana, or like a Bonnie Raitt-fronted Black Crowes, belting out a rock sound that's full of soul and blues.

Potter's latest, This Is Somewhere (2007, Hollywood Records), got loads of great reviews. NPR called the record "Equal parts Tom Petty and Wilco," which is a compliment of the highest order in my mind.



I first heard about Furman roughly this time last year, on Andy Whitman's blog. This barely-20-year-old was flying completely under the radar, but made one of the best records of 2007, with a raucous folk sound, part Dylan and part Mountain Goats & Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Furman's Banging Down the Doors was a hard-charging record that grew better the more I listened to it. And from the first tracks I've heard, this year's Inside the Human Body is a more rockin' follow-up.

Furman is bursting with talent and his songs are as catchy as Potter's are soulful. Though I wouldn't necessarily expect the two bands to show up on the same bill, this ought to be a great show.

DOWNLOAD:
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - Big White Gate (live)
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - Apologies (live)
Get the whole Feb. 21, 2008 NYC show here.
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons - We Should Fight