Early into "Handsome Furs Hate This City", Dan Boeckner sings: "Open the heart/ It's just a machine." Boeckner's Handsome Furs, his Wolf Parade side project with fiancée Alexei Perry, also locates its tired heart in a machine. When Boeckner told Pitchfork a few months ago that Handsome Furs were "basically Wolf Parade without the guy that everybody likes and no real instruments," he might as well have said, "...with a drum machine instead of a drummer." That trade-off seems to have determined their debut album's tone and texture, because each of the record's nine songs moves to a precise beat that's rarely changed or improvised, doesn't adjust speeds, and can't sense the intentions of the other players. Thus, Plague Park creates a feeling of listlessness and jet-lag-- too much potential and too little movement.
This was always the band's intention, it seems-- even in their most prominent press photo, they display a disaffected, decadent boredom. Because each song on Plague Park seamlessly moves into the next, and since both halves of Handsome Furs make a living as writers (one of Perry's poems was part of "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul"-- rock!), the album is best approached lyrics-first. It's difficult to tell who contributes what, since Perry is a poet and Boeckner penned Wolf Parade's best words.
As is often the case with Wolf Parade lyrics, the songs here scorn technology, "progress," and urban life. "Hate This City" lays down the band's philosophy pretty clearly: "We can get you anything you want/ But you won't know what it's for," Boeckner sings over weak static and a sickly, spare beat. Synths dance around a handful of notes to make it a sleepwalking lullaby. In "Cannot Get, Started", the title's comma forces a pause that acts in much the same way as the electronics on the record-- Boeckner and Perry loathe modernity, but need to make it visible in order to show you how it works. That anger sometimes fades into grudging acceptance, however-- and on "Dead + Rural", it's clear that the alternatives are just as disheartening.
Handsome Furs make sparse and minimal music, but stating an intention doesn't remove it from discussion. The album is only nine tracks long, but for all its brevity, it seems to last a while-- and even has time to repeat itself. The album's middle section sticks to the same tempo, the guitars all use the same strident strum and texture, so by the time Boeckner sings, "If there’s a god/ He holds you closely/ Inside these walls" during "Dead + Rural", Plague Park itself is tightening around you, its airless, thin synths and florescent-lighting hum draining your energy.
The power of Boeckner's songwriting is in its harmonic simplicity. In that way, his work is a lot like the Constantines'-- each artist wrings quite a bit out of four or so chords. Despite Boeckner's obvious talents-- he's clearly refined his songwriting gifts-- and the presence here of a worthy collaborator, Boeckner most excels when he works alongside someone who provides a stronger contrast. In Wolf Parade, Spencer Krug helps provide that balance; without Boeckner's typical foil, the results remain impressive, if not quite as compelling.
