The Fiery Furnaces

The Fiery Furnaces seem to have written a rock opera in 2004, and, oddly enough, it’s a barnburner — a rich 76-minute excursion that employs piano, tasty guitar licks, fuzz-synthesizers, odd beats coupled with manic drums, sleigh bells and the singsong vocals of brother-sister duo Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger, who manage to fit more words into an album than Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde. Just don’t try to figure out the storyline. Unlike their debut, the masterful Gallowsbird’s Bark, in which standalone snippets ended just as they were beginning, the Furnaces explore melodies from both basic and odd angles here. They manage to create a kaleidoscope out of tunes until the songs are all screwy, beautiful, and truly memorable.