Jeff Hemmings: Music

Ezra Furman’s struggles with identity, love and life

Rock’n’roll strikes a deep chord within the American psyche, through the likes of Elvis, Jerry, Buddy, Johnny, Chuck et al. To this day, rock’n’roll is an essentially American invention, and it’s something they can do like no other.
Take Ezra Furman, another in a long line of contemporary American traditionalists/ revivalists that have rock’n’roll in their blood. This observant, cross-dressing, rock’n’roll Jew, who struggles with his bisexuality and the periodic questioning of his identity and purpose, makes raw and hook-laden music that is restless, timeless, and combative; a veritable ball of energy that bounces around genres, but with classic rock’n’roll at its beating heart.

With his earlier incarnation Ezra Furman and The Harpoons influenced by the likes of Violent Femmes, Furman and his new band – The Boyfriends – released Day of the Dog in 2013, picking up some stunning reviews here in the UK. Whereas he couldn’t gain much traction in the birthplace of rock’n’roll, the UK recognised the talent in this maverick. We just seem to get this idea of artistic restlessness, positively battling through life’s confusions and complexities. Moreover, cross-dressing is still a somewhat questionable thing to do in much of conservative America. Conversely, we Brits have a fine tradition of such ‘comedic’ behaviour via the likes of Danny la Rue, Les Dawson and Dick Emery, but also through musicians such as David Bowie.
Like most of his songs here, lead track Restless Year lays out his troubles from the off: “Making the rounds in my five-dollar dress/I can’t go home, though I’m not homeless/I’m just another savage in the wilderness/And if you can’t calm down you can listen to this”.

Much in the way he often changes the way he presents his gender, Furman’s songs are almost invariably about struggles; with gender, identity, love and life, but usually delivered in exuberant and life-affirming fashion. Certainly, Furman is the real deal, an ‘outsider’ in spirit and artistic bearing, one who has the potential to connect directly with most listener, no matter how ‘straight’ they may be.
Thur 18 Feb, Concorde 2. 7.30pm. Sold Out