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November 18, 2004
Hit Pause
Jonathan Fire*Eater - When the Curtain Calls for You
Jonathan Fire*Eater, for those of you who might not know, is the big daddy band of the Walkmen. Formed in D.C., in the mid-90's, Fire*Eater was composed of now-Walkmen Paul Maroon (guitar), Walter Martin (organ), Matt Barrick (drums), and non-Walkmen Tom Frank (bass), and Stewart Lupton (vocals). They had a good sound, as you can tell by this track: it's gloomy, martial, and twisted. Lupton's voice and Martin's Farfisa Fast Five totally make this song what it is, and the lyrics are some of Lupton's best: 'like a sugar cake/lookin' so good on a china plate/it makes the world turn sweeter now'. His lyrics were always a lot more focused on imagery than on, you know, linear content, and it's a quality that gives Fire*Eater's songs a sense of theatricality, v. much opposed to the Walkmen's lean, driving sound.
Fire*Eater burned out, due to pressures both external (they were on DreamWorks for their debut LP, and it did not sell well at all) and internal (When the band moved to NY, things got rough). 'Wolf Songs for Lambs', the aforementioned LP, is one of three official recordings that were ever released by the band, and it's the album that 'Curtain' comes from- it's out of print now (which is a real shame, and pretty bad for a major label record), but you can still buy it used on l'Amazon. Another one to check out is 'Tremble Under Boom Lights', the EP that Fire*Eater released just prior to 'Wolf Songs'- I actually own that one (I think it's less rare), and it definitely has some of the band's best moments, including the postively debauched 'Search for Cherry Red'.
Stewart Lupton, by the way, has a new band: the Child Ballads. In a huge coincidence, they're actually playing tonight, 11/18, at 9:00 p.m. in D.C., at the Artomatic showcase. Someone, please, go to this show and report back! I have to taste-test concrete for my job until 11:00 p.m. tonight, so I may have to miss it.
Posted by matt at November 18, 2004 08:00 AM