The Rosebuds' Night of the Furies CD Review

In the music industry, ambition and talent often get your works recognized in the long run. The Rosebuds are a perfect example of where having those two qualities- and having a good time- can get your musical talents from playing at your friend's parties to touring the world.

Night of the Furies, the Rosebud's 3^rd full CD under the widely-respected Merge Records label is an incomparable mesh of sounds that tells a story from the first to the last track while making every song stand on it's own. The entire disc is inspired by the Russian legend of the Furies, three sisters who came to Earth in order to handle the unfinished business of punishing unpunished deeds. Some of the tracks give a darkish, electronic and slightly gloomy atmosphere backed up with intriguing lyrics and melodic "oooh and ahh" by Ivan, one half of the Rosebuds duo. "My Punishment for Fighting" is quite the combination of beat, melody and dark atmosphere. It's almost Depeche-like except not nearly as sad and catchier. Kelly provides keyboards and contributes as a lead vocal on a few tracks, namely "I Better Run", a song that sounds like a southern Goth girl trying to escape her disjointed family and culture. My favorite line in the entire CD comes during "When the Lights Went Dim" when Kelly sings "you can smell the silence all around for 20 miles/ locked up in the attic with all those Christmas lights". You can feel that perfect setting of the song with those lyrics- two lovers trying to escape and one is worried the other didn't make it. "Get Up Get Out" is the current single that will get you on the floor trying to balance your Martini in between beats.

If you've ever experienced any of the Rosebud's music, this is almost nothing like what they've previously released yet it keeps the key elements to their success intact. This is quite a turn from the first CD, The Rosebuds Make Out, which was decidedly bouncy and sweet in a "just married" kinda way. Birds Make Good Neighbors slowed down the pace a bit but still kept a little bit of good sugar for the senses. Night of The Furies is what happens when you travel with the Rosebuds at night on foreign highways.

You can still feel the relationship between Kelly and Ivan and their musical influences on each other. You can still dance and drive to each track and imagine them batting googly eyes at one another. Even in the darker sections of the CD, Ivan still manages to push out his "yeah yeah yeah's" in the background making it impossible to forget his tone and attitude, as if he's saying "this room is dark but its fun. Woo hoo!" I highly recommend you buy this CD (official release date: April 10th, 2007) and catching them on their U.S. Tour beginning in May 2007. The ambition and talent are evident here and the Rosebuds will be in your hearts for a long, long time.