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Front Porch Musings
Horse Operas received a pretty stellar review from Front Porch Musings for their new album Dead Man’s Music.
Here’s a snippet:
I’m quite attracted to the stiff-upper lip sensibilities that come through in some of the tunes. The music is very simple; there’s a guitar, sometimes two, a ukelele, and some pretty easy to follow drum-beats. Simple formulas bring great results, as their songwriting and changing tempos are what makes this music fun to listen to.
Check out the full review and other altcountry related media at frontporchmusings.com
shithole, oregon
Horse Operas have been back from tour for some time now and we’ve been too lazy to get here and update. In a nutshell, it went great. Portland, Bellingham, Santa Cruz, Seattle, SF, and Eureka all went great. The only turd in the punch bowl was Medford, OR. Shit-hole! Furious Frank is recording a new song tomorrow about Horse Operas’ experience there.
On a lighter note, Furious Frank got an awesome write-up in Indie Collision:
Furious Frank – Notable April 21, 2010
Putting out an altogether appealing brand of folk rock is Furious Frank, a rhythm and horn driven group that is a distinctly American answer to Gogol Bordello. Blending staccato sounds borrowed from gypsy folk and ska, Furious Frank mischievously wind their way through songs that jump with energy but also bend around themselves to create pleasantly distorted melodies that bring to mind carnival barkers and organ grinders.
There is a communal shout and smile aesthetic to Furious Frank; all through their songs the band calls and responds in syncopated unison. Their playing pulls in elements of Tom Waits’ wry candor, steppy polka lines, and undercurrents of nashville strings. Furious Frank’s ‘hobocamp’ is a little supergroup of sorts bringing in Travis Mariott from the alt-country group Horse Operas, Jason Taylor and Mason Payne from the soulful country rock group Otis Problem, and Jay Stanek from the Big Sky String Band.
Through wicked tracks like “The Coroner of Drifter Creek,” Furious Frank chugs and plucks along to grinning lyrics, “Lungs and livers / Tongues and feet / Never waste the meat,” all with a jolly nod to the days of boxcar travels and Ringling big tops. The fact that the lines are delivered with knowing melodrama–in a deep bassoon–juxtaposes the slight horror with humor, like making making Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” into a musical comedy.
The bounding rhythms and playacting showmanship of the group never feels forced, you can tell that the group is enjoying themselves as they carousel the listener around their jittery brand of folk. Every off key and disconcerting lyric is situated for full effect, and the results are assuredly fun.
Furious Frank’s debut album from last year can be bought from their website www.furiousfrank.net (a steal at $2.50). They’ll be playing Chicago’s Ribfest on June 12th, but if you feel the need for prior enlightenment, check them out at the Montrose Room in Rosemont, IL at 8pm on May 21st.