Furniture Girls – How I learned To Crawl (Critical Sun Recordings)
I doubt that you would be brave enough to sit on this band, or eat your dinner off them, either. They look a very tough bunch indeed, all five of them. Not that the two women aren’t attractive (girls, I really, really don’t want you to think that… please!), it’s just that from the photos you know that these people are totally street wise, have street cred, and they’ve obviously earned it.

After the first couple of tracks that try a little too hard to impress the listener with their bombastic approach, the album is launched properly with “Sleep”, a relaxed song (as you might expect with that title) that meanders along with mean background guitar licks, and a delightful funky beat. I say delightful because I don’t usually ‘do’ funky - one Sly and the Family Stone track is enough for me in one go, thanks - but this really is good. “Weenie” follows - again quite funky, and with a keyboard backing holding its end up very well. The main vocals are credited to Stayc Meyer (with Nikki - the other woman – also doing vocal duties) and for this material she has (or they have, I suppose) ideal voices for the alternative funk material that has been laid down here. (In fact, Stayc and Nikki have voices that are both sexy and strong, and anytime they want to sing me a lullaby I am ready and waiting…).

There is no doubt that the slower tempo, more deliberate tracks are their forte. They might look like they can cut up a storm (and maybe they do when playing live), but just listen to “BPM” and you’ll see what I mean. And this is where the funk in their music actually lies, with a neat and subtle edge added to the production. These tough hombres really can swing, as calm but lively “Jr”, the blissful “Shatner’s Universe (Getting Older)”, and then the more up-tempo “Riviera” drive the album forward. And we are far from finished: “Real Woolie” is a fine ballad, “Aurora Village Daddy” is a hip-hop/funk/rock eulogy for all the stray girls out there (and could be the best thing on the album), “Text Mess” (slightly spooky) and “Chitoses Golden Gate” (slightly golden vocals) make for an excellent two-track finale.

So, a debut album from this Seattle band, but with more built-in pizzazz than almost any previous debuts I have had the pleasure of dealing with. I hope the follow up is not too long in coming, although the wait, whatever it might be, shall certainly be worth it.
www.myspace.com/furnituregirls

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