Feeding Fingers - The Occupant
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Germany-based post-punk group Feeding Fingers finally completed their fourth studio album, The Occupant, during 2012 in the Mozarteum halls at the University of Salzburg, Austria. The mastermind behind the band, Justin Curfman from the US, gave a statement to the work on the album:
"My intention with The Occupant is to expand the musical vocabulary of the group as much as I am able to at this point in my development as an artist and to attempt to stray away from at least some of the conventional trappings that our listeners have come to expect from a Feeding Fingers release, but hopefully doing so in a more natural and non-deliberate manner. No pushing. No shoving. We have all seen time and time again throughout history what happens when an artist starts to bully his or her own work into being something that it simply should not be - failure is more often than not the result. I have tried my best here not to antagonize my own creativity too much with this recording. This is partially why, I believe, that it has taken three years for this album to show itself to me."
Let us see, how the album turned out after three years of work. Indeed, we can find one or the other gem on the album. The intro, 'Eine Einladung in ihr Gesicht mit Liebe geschnitzt', is a strange a capella song, sung in German by a boy (or is it a woman), until the album is introduced with 'Inside the Body of an Animal'. This is a classy post-punk song, which is nicely driven by the bass and supported by a piano tune. It is one of the slower pieces on the album. During the refrain the singer is backed up with female vocals.
'Where the Threads are the Thinnest' is one of the highlight on The Occupant. Also clearly influenced by post-punk, the refrain is an ear-worm and will not leave your inner musical box for some time.
The next song, 'I Am No One I Know', on the other hand is really disappointing. Although the song is carried by a guitar-picking tune, which is pleasant to listen to, the rest of it is destroyed by the vocalist. If I wouldn't review this album, this would have been the time to switch the player off.
Fortunately, the album increased again in quality. The songs 'Blisters First', 'Breathing Partner', 'Paper Dolls Would Eat Glass For Us' and 'I Drink Disappearing Ink' are classy post-punk tracks, driven by a deep bass and hard drums. If you are a fan of that genre, you will like it, they are good. Here I want to outline the latter song, which is in a way outstanding on The Occupant. It is hard to describe, why. It is slow, and, therefore, able to go deep. The sad vocals are also underlining this feeling.
'Mine Is Not The Only Voice In My Head' I enjoyed the most. Very slow, not post-punkish at all, but a classical song, which fits perfectly to the venue, where it has been recorded. The hymn is reminiscent of the newer works by Slovenian geniuses Silence.
The outro is a waltz from a musical box, which gives it a twist of mystery, until it suddenly... stops.
It seems that the three years of work paid off for Justin Curfman. In a way he accomplished his mission of bringing his band's sound further. It is just this one hipsterish song, which quenches the atmosphere the album else would have perfectly generated. Yet, the rest of The Occupant is great, it didn't fall into odd nostalgia, but managed to look beyond genre-boundaries.
Tracklist:
01. Eine Einladung in Ihr Gesicht mit Liebe geschnitzt
02. Inside the Body of an Animal
03. Where the Threads are the Thinnest
04. I Am No One That I Know
05. Blisters First
06. Auflösen wie Familien tun
07. Paper Dolls Would Eat Glass for Us
08. Breathing Partners
09. Mine is Not the Only Voice in My Head
10. I Drink Disappearing Ink
11. Walzer für eine Spieluhr
Other articles:
"My intention with The Occupant is to expand the musical vocabulary of the group as much as I am able to at this point in my development as an artist and to attempt to stray away from at least some of the conventional trappings that our listeners have come to expect from a Feeding Fingers release, but hopefully doing so in a more natural and non-deliberate manner. No pushing. No shoving. We have all seen time and time again throughout history what happens when an artist starts to bully his or her own work into being something that it simply should not be - failure is more often than not the result. I have tried my best here not to antagonize my own creativity too much with this recording. This is partially why, I believe, that it has taken three years for this album to show itself to me."
Let us see, how the album turned out after three years of work. Indeed, we can find one or the other gem on the album. The intro, 'Eine Einladung in ihr Gesicht mit Liebe geschnitzt', is a strange a capella song, sung in German by a boy (or is it a woman), until the album is introduced with 'Inside the Body of an Animal'. This is a classy post-punk song, which is nicely driven by the bass and supported by a piano tune. It is one of the slower pieces on the album. During the refrain the singer is backed up with female vocals.
'Where the Threads are the Thinnest' is one of the highlight on The Occupant. Also clearly influenced by post-punk, the refrain is an ear-worm and will not leave your inner musical box for some time.
The next song, 'I Am No One I Know', on the other hand is really disappointing. Although the song is carried by a guitar-picking tune, which is pleasant to listen to, the rest of it is destroyed by the vocalist. If I wouldn't review this album, this would have been the time to switch the player off.
Fortunately, the album increased again in quality. The songs 'Blisters First', 'Breathing Partner', 'Paper Dolls Would Eat Glass For Us' and 'I Drink Disappearing Ink' are classy post-punk tracks, driven by a deep bass and hard drums. If you are a fan of that genre, you will like it, they are good. Here I want to outline the latter song, which is in a way outstanding on The Occupant. It is hard to describe, why. It is slow, and, therefore, able to go deep. The sad vocals are also underlining this feeling.
'Mine Is Not The Only Voice In My Head' I enjoyed the most. Very slow, not post-punkish at all, but a classical song, which fits perfectly to the venue, where it has been recorded. The hymn is reminiscent of the newer works by Slovenian geniuses Silence.
The outro is a waltz from a musical box, which gives it a twist of mystery, until it suddenly... stops.
It seems that the three years of work paid off for Justin Curfman. In a way he accomplished his mission of bringing his band's sound further. It is just this one hipsterish song, which quenches the atmosphere the album else would have perfectly generated. Yet, the rest of The Occupant is great, it didn't fall into odd nostalgia, but managed to look beyond genre-boundaries.
Tracklist:
01. Eine Einladung in Ihr Gesicht mit Liebe geschnitzt
02. Inside the Body of an Animal
03. Where the Threads are the Thinnest
04. I Am No One That I Know
05. Blisters First
06. Auflösen wie Familien tun
07. Paper Dolls Would Eat Glass for Us
08. Breathing Partners
09. Mine is Not the Only Voice in My Head
10. I Drink Disappearing Ink
11. Walzer für eine Spieluhr
Other articles:
- Interwiev with Feeding Fingers - 2011-08-19 (Interviews)
