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Fanfarlo: You Are One Of The Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us

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by Alex Denney

I hate comparing stuff to Neutral Milk Hotel. It’s like comparing light bulbs to the sun. But with their ability to write beguiling melodies over the most bog-standard of chord sequences, and an unmistakeable penchant for the judicious use of rousing, bittersweet horns, that’s exactly who Fanfarlo bring to mind on a good day.

Sure, there’s none of the plangent strum and visionary wail that made NMH so, well, visionary, but they’re a sweet enough confection in their own right. ‘Outsiders…’, then, is a low-key delight, with crescendo-ing horns vaguely reminiscent of The Concretes’ kitschy Motown stomp ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ and drums that even threaten funkiness (or at least tactfully imply it over a nice cup of tea). I’d call it a heart-warming affair except for the hard-to-discern lyrics, which are about alienation and violence, apparently. But then they said that about the Cardigans.

B-side ‘In The Trunk’ is similarly pleasing, with a swoonsome chorus, glockenspiel and frankly manipulative strings all cloying away in the mix to ensure there isn’t a dry eye in the house by the end. Scores points, too, for sounding a bit like the impeccably-raised offspring of Arcade Fire and Belle and Seb.

  • Fanfarlo 7 / 10

Set the controls for the heart of 2006

I'm feeling mean this morning for some reason. This feels like last year's crop of harmless overseas popsters. How am I supposed to appreciate this in a world ruled by Jamie T's high-speed freak-outs and our own New Western Power-folk?


Really good band

but, as with 99.9% of NMH comparisons, this one is totally inaccurate.


agreed

love this song though - probably a 9 from me


This band will

Do great things I hope, This song is one of the best things I've heard in ages... as is the video, but i watched that (you know what i mean)