Emerging: Forest Fire

(photo by Victoria Jacob)

There's a general sense of ramshackle in the eyes and hearts of the members of the band Forest Fire, a Brooklyn-based set of kids who set out to record music and in the process (a long process, mind you) created a sort of punk ethos-infused folk music that from song-to-song seems to meander all the hell over the place. That's Survival, the group's new record. Maybe it's because the band didn't record songs day after day and instead opted to piece things together, let them sit and then come back to them when it felt right, but you instantly get the vibe that each song matters just as much as the next, a spirited explosion of shared vocals, sometimes-out-of-tune instruments and foot-stomping progressions of capital-F feelings. Sometimes sparse, at other points nearly too filled with overdubbing and corrective measures, the band's delicate balance of their own veering one way or the other on all spectrums possible (from the ache of "Sunshine City" to the pure pop romp "Fortune Teller", for instance) is the key to their imminent success. And maybe it's that balance, mixing the looseness of their songs with the tight-knit group element they seem to embody that will find you wanting more.

(mp3)    Forest Fire - Fortune Teller

Godspeed!