The Fiery Furnaces
Blueberry Boat

THE REVIEW

Sometimes I discover things and I say to myself "I bet no one has ever noticed this, people are too busy minding their own business to discover the threads that link seemingly distant things that can't wait to be discovered". Some mysteries want to be revealed.

So, how long has it been since you've seen a new Tom & Jerry cartoon? Are you counting the years? Have you already felt the sadness because you remembered that you are always watching the same episodes? Eeeehhhh, I also miss their silly comedy a lot... But everyone gets old, you might say! What sense would it make to see their cartoon with a Tom with wrinkles and overweight and a Jerry with floppy ears who no longer runs? It would be downright pathetic, come on!

But I've discovered something you can't even imagine... Tom & Jerry may have disappeared from the Hollywood scene, but they have turned to music!!! Sure, they claim to be siblings, called Eleanor and Matthew Friedbarger, originally from Chicago and transplanted to New York. Blah blah blah, a nice masquerade, but after listening to them... who believes these two aren't the Hollywood cat and mouse?
Thirteen songs for 76 minutes, each track contains at least three others, mood changes that are a pleasure, electronic onslaught starts to transition to 30s jazz, voices chasing each other, two-minute solos, mellotron with wah wah, melancholic pop harpsichord melodies, her voice like a storyteller that gets faster and faster until she almost raps... in "Mason City" even, Eleanor (really Jerry) sings and at one point a heavy drum appears with a "We Will Rock You" type beat, but it's totally offbeat! After a few seconds, her voice disappears and Matthew's (Tom) appears, in rhythm with the drums!

These two have an innate zest for life, and they harmonize all this mess with a personality of their own that distinguishes them. I can see them there as they practice; Matthew (Tom) makes a wrong chord, so Eleanor (Jerry) gives him a good kick in the balls. The rating is what you see because more isn't allowed... but actually my rating is this: 6/5