Fur Trade - Don’t Get Heavy

Fur Trade's Steve Bays (lead singer for Hot Hot Heat) and Parker Bossley (The Gay Nineties) describe their style as an experimental form of “yacht rock” (i.e. the late-‘70s style of Steely Dan, Hall and Oats and Toto). While some argue that computerized music requires less traditional musical talent, Bays maintains the album is the product of a great deal of sculpting: “With electronic music, the mixing is just as important as the song writing.” Despite this engineering, the electronic sound is too busy while still managing to be boring. I appreciate the original “yacht rock” genre for nostalgic purposes but also for its genuineness; in contrast, many of Fur Trade’s offerings are overly distorted. The debut album’s best track is its first single, “Kids These Days,” with a catchy guitar riff and a beautiful one-shot video of a young girl dancing in the street.

 [rating:2]

- Nancy Saunders