popwreckoning

English majors rejoice — the poetry of Theodore Roethke has finally been paired with an accordion, thanks to Beirut (/The Arcade Fire/a thousand other bands) spin-off Team B.

The Lost Son EP, featuring lyrics exclusively from Roethke’s poetry (see “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke” for full poems), is available for free on Team B’s Web site and Myspace for now, but front-man Kelly Pratt (Beirut, Arcade Fire) says he plans to release the album on vinyl only later this year.

According to Team B’s Myspace, the lyrics as-sung don’t adhere strictly to Roethke’s poems; Pratt often sang “an abbreviation of the full poem. . .not strictly adhering to the original (though always very close).” Despite these minor deviations, I promise this EP will take you straight back to your intro-level English classes and your feeble first attempts at applying deconstructionalist theory to “My Papa’s Waltz.” Um, but if you were like me (and you were an awful English major who hated analyzing poetry — seriously. I can’t be the only one), you’ll be relieved to know that adding tubas, Pratt’s gentle voice and the occasional chirping bird in the background takes some of the edge off Roethke. After a few tracks, I was able to stop having painful flashbacks to lecture halls and enjoy the instrumentals AND the poetry.

I’ll admit that it took me a few listens through The Lost Son to shake my Beirut-expectancies and hear this band for a new project. However, now I can’t figure out how I managed to hear only Beirut the first times listening. Team B perfectly matches Roethke’s words with a German-inspired sound that reflects his heritage. This European influence also delivers the touch of melancholy that is all-but-required when Roethke’s writing comes into play, adding another level for the written-word lover to soak in, analyze and appreciate.

Grab this album for free while you can, and consider making “a friendly donation” to Team B for their efforts, by heading over to their Myspace or Web site.
*A disclosure to non-English majors: This album is good even if you have no idea who Roethke is. Really.

Track List:
1. Intro – The Lost Son
2. The Visitant
3. The Reckoning
4. My Papa’s Waltz
5. Genesis/Reply To Censure
6. Toil
7. The Lost Son
8. Gob Music
9. Praise To The End!

Written by Caitlin Dean.

I’m getting just a little peeved with the Washington Post. It seems like whenever I’ve found a little-known band on my own and think going to a little club to see said band is going to be a relaxing, laid-back night, the paper finds out about the gig and proceeds to do a big write-up on the band, calling the gig a best bet for the weekend. Inevitably, whatever the gig, the venue will sell out in record time and I’m forced to stand uncomfortably squeezed in among people who’ve just heard about the band that very week because they read about it in the Post. This is exactly what happened Friday night when I went to Iota, a small club connected to a cafe in Arlington, Virginia, just over the river from Washington D.C. Thankfully, this time the band in question was London-based folk pop band Fanfarlo, so at least I didn’t have to worry about any overzealous moshers or serious drunks. And in hindsight I’m glad the gig sold out, because the band’s performance was breathtaking and so many people got to see the band’s artistry firsthand.

Fanfarlo is led by Swedish musician Simon Balthazar (guitar/clarinet), who sings lead vocals alongside with the sweet harmonies of Cathy Lucas (violin / mandolin / and a whole bunch others). They’ve been compared to the Arcade Fire, which I suppose is the lazy journalist’s easy choice for comparison because of the strong pairing of male/female vocals. Leon Beckenham (trumpet / keyboards / glockenspiel), Justin Finch (bass) and Amos Memon (drums) complete their talented line-up. They released Reservoir, their debut album, earlier this year.

If you’re wondering where their band name came from, it was taken from a novella written in 1847 by French poet Charles Baudelaire called La Fanfarlo. But should you be put off by the tres chic name, please know that they make decidedly unpretentious beautiful folk pop. They started their set at Iota with just three of their members – Balthazar, Lucas, and Memon – to play “Drowning Men.” Their slower songs like “Comets” (with the smooth-as-silk chorus of “we’ll tear it down / we’ll hold the truth / by the neck / oh, by the neck / kick in the doors / and burn the books / try to forget / try to forget“) and “I’m a Pilot” are dreamy and gorgeous played live with the unique collection of instruments being played alongside Balthazar and Lucas’s voices; the two of them are tied with the xx in my mind for the most gorgeous boy/girl paired voices heard this year.

But speeding things up on songs like the verbosely-titled “Harold T. Wilkins, or How to Wait for a Very Long Time” or the fun “Luna”, with its driving drum beats augmented by Balthazar ditching his guitars to beat on a single drum, showed that they can do much more than ballads and do so in an engaging way. Check out an acoustic version of this song they filmed in a friend’s back garden this past June.

In addition to tracks from Reservoir, we also got a sneak peek into their next release in two new songs, “Atlas” and “Waiting in the Wings.” When the band left the stage following “Luna” (the last song on their printed set list), it was unclear whether they’d return. Following audience cheers for more songs, the band came back for an encore of “Ghosts,” which was as haunting as the title suggests. While being haunted is usually a bad thing, I like to think the entire Iota audience that night were entranced by this London band and their brand of bewitching folk pop.

Three dates are left on Fanfarlo‘s North American tour before they head back to London for the holidays. Please note: the two Canadian dates (Toronto on December 15 and Montreal on December 16) on their original schedule have been canceled due to Balthazar’s passport and Canadian visa getting stolen when their van was broken into during a stop in Portland last week. The band are scheduled to go on tour again in the UK in early 2010 with another great band from the London folk scene, Mumford and Sons.

Set List:
Drowning Men
I’m a Pilot
Finish Line
Harold T. Wilkins, or How to Wait for a Very Long Time
Atlas
The Walls are Coming Down
Waiting in the Wings
Comets
Luna
//
Ghosts

Tour Dates:
Dec 14 – Majestic Cafe / Detroit*
Dec 17 – T.T. The Bear’s / Boston*
Dec 18 – Webster Hall / New York City*
* with Freelance Whales

Fanfarlo: website | myspace
Freelance Whales: myspace