Don't Want to Hate You

The Known World, by The Furors
STYLE: Whimsical, Witty, Multi-Genre Rock.
HOME TOWN: New Haven, CT. Review by Gary Vollono

The Furors normally play plugged in with Tom on drums, backing vocals and handling any percussion chores that might pop up, while Derek plays guitar and sings, both in a manner that fit the quirky, intelligent pop ditties that make you wonder why the band They Might Be Giants could make a living on songs like these, while The Furors have gone relatively unnoticed during the same time. In this acoustic setting (and my first time seeing/hearing them) I was amazed. Derek played the guitar like a refined lunatic, holding it high on his chest for close intimate sounds, yet thrashing spastically when the punch and oommfff of the song called for it. Singing in altos and falsettos, he would bend and contort his facial muscles to help his voice find the idiosyncratic inflections needed to fit each of the compositions. In contrast, Tom sat behind his drum kit deceivingly stolid-like as he played not only the drums, but such percussion goodies like a toy piano, 5 different pitched bells (I’m sure there’s a technical name for them which I am uneducated on), a penny whistle, New Years Eve noise makers, a miniature gong, castanets, and a host of others with such precision and passion that the music created by the two of them jumped alive and swirled in my head. What seemed like two extremes were actually a team of unparalleled synch (reviewer’s note: I forgot to mention the harmonies – amazing harmonious interpretations!); mirroring each other with opposite styles to create a seamless tapestry of musical sound, all stitched together with lyrics of thesis quality depth (reviewer’s note: recanting twisted vignettes of life’s relationships) transposed into 3-minute songs. Needless to say I was hooked.

That description nails the CD “The Known World” to a Tee.

Since then I’ve seen them play numerous acoustic & electric shows at which I developed a fondness and familiarity with their repertoire. Then came the ultimate: Tom Hearn of Cheshire, CT and Robbie DeRosa [ThinManMusic] of Meriden, CT, gathered 38 local bands and recorded a double CD Tribute to The Furors called “Let’s Get Furious.” I swallowed it whole and came away awed at the scope and breadth of the Furors music. Holcomb and Dans are a writing team that can hold themselves up with the big boys (and deserve to be working in the bizarro Brill Building), which brings me back to The Known World. 12 of the 16 tracks on this CD were covered on the Let’s Get Furious CD, and if that doesn’t tell you the significance of The Known World, let me expound – When three-fourths of one record is chosen by your peers as the song(s) they admire enough to cover, man, you’re talking like only Sgt.Pepper comes close in that regard, which should tell you something – (it brings even more depth and meaning to the title: The Known World ;-)…

I then found myself re-blown away by the songs I already knew (although through different recorded and live interpretations). Right from the opening bare guitar chords, thundering double drumbeat, woodblock snap, and ting-a-ling of the toy piano in “If It Isn’t One Thing,” the finely hued reggae organ a la` Sandinista era Clash in “Don’t Want To Hate You,” the early skiffle-like Buddy Holly guitar chords and signatures in “How Pretty You Were When I Cared,” the Retro-60’s, Laugh-In Go-Go Party feel to “Something on You,” (Daunt, Da Daunt Da – wait for the punch line), and the bewitching-hour, ghoulish, “walk it down” guitar riffs and bells on “Strangers In Fiction,” (using the opening Rodgers & Hammerstein Broadway style lyrics of: “Don’t talk to strangers/’Cause you might end up talking to me/They don’t come stranger/I’m not dangerous now/But, I might well be” complete with eerie, goosebump inducing backing vocals), I knew that this was no ordinary run of the mill record. The Known World cultivates music into an ever-expanding sound that does not sit still.

The duo of Derek Holcomb (guitar, vocals, organ, violin, steel drum, flutophone, toy piano) and Tom Dans (drums, vocals, flute, flutophone) created an album that defies categorization. Alive with so much action, sound, lyrics, musical mischief, minute intricacy, and instruments from every percussion class ever taught, that the scope and magnitude of this platter is more suited for a box set career retrospective. They are also assisted by guest percussionist Maria Murphy (playing such instruments as tambourine, cabassa, bells, castanets, toy piano, bongos, triangles, whistle, noisemaker, and organ. And, man, are every one of those instruments important and integral to all the compositions found here) as well as John Lindberg whose recording and engineering bring vibrancy and life to the many layers that are the foundations of the sound. You’ll see why this album presents multitudes of problems when attempting to try to explain the style and why it hooked you, only to find yourself smiling as you’re choking on the amount of adjectives and genres you can spit out in enough time to not leave anything out.

And of course I’ve had to leave many more superfluous adjectives out because to continue carrying on would just diminish the impact. Do not let New Haven keep The Furors as their own little secret, The Known World should not be relegated to a select few. Get to know The Known World. We caught the furor, you should too.

C'mon, Let’s Get Furious!
Gary Vollono