Furnace Creek bleeds and speeds to big conclusions on "Past My Prime", the title track off their debut full length

"Cause when I was born, I was bathed in oil"
Furnace Creek is an indie rock / alt rock band that hails from Warwick, NY and, right now, it is currently kind of big deal for the boys because they recently (April 24th, 2020) released their debut full length entitled "Past My Prime" and if the title track were to inform you of the overall sound of this record, I would call it: divergent alternative art folk rock that feels more like big artistic, cathartic declaration than a song. Now, would my description match the rest of the album? That I am not sure of, but the song Past My Prime has left me quietly stunned for a number of reasons. 

I mean, it is not the first song that is told in a linear from point A to Point Z fashion without a traditional verse, chorus, verse verse chorus, bridge, chorus structure but if there is a chorus (and there might be) it only happens once. The song feels, as I stated already, more of a wildly emotional declaration of sorts, a narrative from birth to a young man. The poetry can be audacious (in a way), defiant but moving too. Assuming this is auto-biographical or at least based on partial truths (and it might be utterly fictional), Dan Wixtrum's youthful torn vocal aesthetic has a wide eyed exasperated  feel. Press notes indicate that the band stacked or doubled the vox, guitars and drums in a ramping fashion to create a slow burning tension and sometimes that can make for a very compressed vocal tone too. Those layers can create some accidental artifacts and added grit, and, maybe, added pain... at least I can sense that. The guitar work is super heavy and emotional too. In fact, enjoying the overall "break my guitar or crash my car" tone here. It has the feeling of youth gone berserk like maybe we all have done, a feeling of acting out or having had enough.  

"Think my seventeen-year-old pregnant birth-mom thought that she was carryin’ a prophet.
As she held her stomach in her hands I know she had no thought to drop it.
Cause when I was born, I was bathed in oil
Surrounded by those trying to lift my spiritual and
After 22 years I think that I am growing strong and I am balling hard.
After 22 years I’ve learned that you don’t have to stiff arm when you’re balling hard."

Just so you know, I have a love / hate relationship with quote, unquote "emo" and while there is a fair amount of angst here, I would not call this emo. No. It is something else and it is good. 

Furnace Creek is: Dan Wixtrom (Dwaine) - Rhythm Guitar/Lead Vocals, Mark Hurey (Milk) - Drums/Percussion, Justin Cole (Pop Pop's Boy) - Lead Guitar, and Ian O'Neill (Yendawg) - Bass.

-Robb Donker Curtius









THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
spotify
instagram (1.2k)

Orange County NY indie rock

Past My Prime is the title track to our first full length record. The song is somewhat of your typical coming of age story; the lyrics are thoughtful, empowering, and reflective. The vocals, guitars, and drums are doubled and layered in a way where it slowly reaches a climax and peak -- a pattern that is similar through Furnace's debut record. The album was mixed and produced by Will Lauzon and mastered by Shayne O'Neil at West West Side Studios.

Genre
Alternative. Indie. Folk.
Stuff you can listen to in your moms car and she won't get mad.

About
Furnace Creek is an alternative indie band based out of Orange County New York. Find us on Spotify, iTunes, and bandcamp.