Music Defined reviews Ezra Furman’s Perpetual Motion People
Music Defined
” Perpetual Motion People raised the bar once again, continuing Furman’s reign as North America’s best songwriter…”
” Perpetual Motion People raised the bar once again, continuing Furman’s reign as North America’s best songwriter…”
“From the album’s opener and lead single ‘Restless Year’, a song that could brighten the day of any sorry soul, the record flows into this cheerful vibe that never seems to slow down…”
“‘Perpetual Motion People’ is an album full of shoobedoos, dipshedipshedips and doobedoowopwops, courtesy of some eager backing vocals that are as playful as something from the ‘Grease’ soundtrack, shamelessly kitsch yet somehow deeply alluring…”
Ezra Furman is sharing his new video for recent single “Restless Year” now on Best Fit featuring nifty editing, stop-motion action and more costume changes than a Madonna concert, Furman creates a quirky, jerky clip to accompany his abrupt garage-rock smash.
Ezra Furman will be releasing his sixth album on Bella Union this summer. His last album Day of the Dog was the crystallisation of four cult albums and a lot of touring to half empty rooms, but after extensive coverage on BBC6, people have started to take note.
Ezra Furman has announced his signing to London’s Bella Union, with plans to release his label debut later this summer. As a first listen to the Day of the Dog follow-up, he’s served up lead single “Restless Year”. Much like Furman himself, the track is a ball of energy, bouncing around genre borders with glee.
Restless Year is easily one of the catchiest songs I have heard this year, and is guaranteed to be stuck in your head after having a listen.
The almighty rock’n’roll madman, Ezra Furman, and his band, The Boyfriends, tease us with bustling new single Restless Year, along with the exciting announcement of his signing to Bella Union (joining the likes of The Flaming Lips, The Walkman and Father John Misty) and forthcoming album.
Furman, who The Guardian has called “a punk-fired rock’n’roll classicist,” has just announced news of his biggest London headline show to date, at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on the 22nd October.
Ezra Furman possesses an increasingly rare quality that eludes most musicians: the ability to exploit a multi-faceted persona, reinventing and adapting from one record to the next. Day of the Dog was released late last year to rave reviews.
Day of the Dog is where Furman crosses a subtle but significant line from a punk version of indie folk to a punk version of rockabilly.
Somewhat bewildered and almost entirely unhinged, Ezra Furman’s idiosyncratic blend of punk-fried and pop embellished noise is nothing short of revelatory.
Day of the Dog, Furman has said, is his manic record, following its depressive predecessor, The Year of No Returning
The magnificent racket made by unorthodox frontman, Ezra Furman, from Chicago was duly greeted by a justifiably fervent response from the packed floor.
Ezra Furman has honed lo-fi garage rock-isms and rootsy hobo folk into something both peculiar and brilliant.
The Monograph’s Alex Scoppie had an exclusive chat with Ezra Furman about saxomophones, cross-dressing and the elusiveness of success.
He formed his first band, “Ezra Furman & the Harpoons,” in 2006 while attending Tufts University. His lead singing and songwriting connected with listeners like a left hook to the jaw, a mix of stinging garage-rock and stripped-down acoustic numbers.
Ezra Furman is an indie songwriter and native Chicagoan. He has a very unique style of songwriting, and the sound is passionate garage punk pop with R&B sensibilities.
Ezra Furman — He’s a fabulous songwriter, who crafts curious, catchy tales that bring to mind such masters as Robyn Hitchcock, Neil Finn and Jeff Tweedy. What else, really, do you need to know about this Oakland musician?
His vulnerable, diffident delivery is completely engrossing throughout, and even with his slight frame, he dominates the stage.
Day of the Dog is a savagely truthful set that seems to tear at the fabric of the Chicagoan’s very being.
The 90-minute show was a homecoming for the 27-year-old Furman.
When it came to quality power pop in 2013, pardon the pun but there was nobody better than Ezra Furman.
It’s the sense of prohibition-era rockabilly breathed into a modern day after-life for kids who still don’t give a fuck.
Ezra Furman has made an album of classicist rock’n’roll that never feels like an exercise, but a living, breathing piece of self-expression.
It was high time we caught up with Ezra Furman. Between leaving his band, the Harpoons, moving across the country and putting out two excellent records this year (The Year of No Returning and Day of the Dog), there was a lot that we were overdue for a chat about.
Where has Ezra Furman been hiding? Already on his fifth album (albeit his first with new band The Boyfriends backing him) this Chicago-based singer-songwriter offers a bratty, ragged take on New York Dolls, Spector-era Ramones and E Street Band carnival rock, revealing a gift for crafting freeway-cruisin’ tunes served with an extra helping of roadkill.
Erza Furman is gearing up to release his new album – check out a preview on Clash.
Ezra Furman is a singer-songwriter hailing from Chicago, and his intimate solo album The Year Of No Returning was recently reissued by Bar/None.