Minty Fresh
2007
Banging Down The Doors
About This Album
Every few years or so, an artist is hailed as the next Bob Dylan and 99 times out of 100 it's a completely unjust comparison. That said, the confessional commentary and whimsical stream of conscious narratives that Ezra Furman spews forth on Banging Down the Doors could have been taken straight out of a textbook of Dylanology 101. But the key factor that makes Furman stand out from many of the other Zimmerman wannabes and upcoming indie folk revivalists is a unique personality and a childlike innocence that shine through and make him easily relatable. It's similar to the "pal factor" that Jonathan Richman had fronting the Modern Lovers and that Gordon Gano had in the Violent Femmes. Furman connects to his audience intimately, like a friend who is casually baring his soul, and delivers literal references and abstract theories without a hint of pretension. There's a whole lot of heart behind Furman's delivery, and he deeply means whatever he says, no matter how strange the situation. In one instance, he tries to talk God (who, in this case, is personified as a middle-aged woman with planets for earrings) out of marrying "some stupid guy" that she is settling for because she's not getting any younger.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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