Handsome Furs Step Up

The Handsome Furs' template should almost certainly bring limitations. Guitar, minimal keyboards and a drum machine don't scream "action-packed good-times indie rock."

But Plague Park defied expectations for two reasons. The first is Dan Boeckner's songwriting and lyricism. The second is the palpable chemistry he and wife Alexei Perry have on stage. Now, their follow-up LP for Sub Pop is either completed or almost finished — it'll be out in January — which gives the Furs the opportunity to go out on the road and find out if their minimal-maximalist concept has legs.

The Witchies opened Friday night's show. They had exactly the same task with Wolf Parade at the Kool Haus two weeks prior. Only this time, instead of playing to a crowd of 1,250, there were only about 40 people in Lee's when the trio hit the stage. This is more to do with the group's near total lack of profile than their music. The Witchies sound like a weird fusion of Quasi and Joy Division, and that's not bad given it's more of the former than the latter (see the Lollapalooza 2008 Day 3 review for more on that).

Singer Chad Jones, who formerly released music under the name Frankie Sparo, keyboardist Nadia Moss and drummer Jonah Fortune all have chops and charm, and I expect to see more from them in the next couple of years. It's too bad more people didn't on Friday.

After a preposterous hour-long break, during which Lee's surprisingly went from near empty to near capacity, Boeckner and Perry finally came out to play a set that showcased most — if not all — of the new LP and the bulk of Plague Park.

The new material is fantastic. Just as I saw people lose it for new, unheard Wolf Parade material that would become At Mount Zoomer last August, Lee's went absolutely nuts for the Furs' new songs, and with good reason. These tracks are more complex, full of catchy choruses and heavy beats and are far more adventurous than these on Plague Park. It helps that the songs from the band's debut have been beefed up by new arrangements and Perry, though no vocal wizard, now sings back-up here and there to add spark.

In the end, it all comes back to Boeckner (whose dad surprised him by flying into town for the show that day). At this point, he has everything going for him. He has a unique voice that cuts through a club like a blade, two superb bands and an unreal sense of showmanship. A good barometer of new songs is whether you can remember hearing them after hearing them live. I'm pretty sure not a single song will escape my memory, nor those of the people who cheered wildly for the Furs on Friday night.