The Marquette Tribune’s Pick of the Week: “Furr” by Blitzen Trapper

This song, by indie rockers from Portland, Ore., is this week’s Pick of the Week. “Furr” is the title track from the band Blitzen Trapper’s 2008 album. They’ve been around since 2003, so it’s pretty late to hop on the Blitzen Trapper bandwagon, but I’ll do it anyway.

The track was ranked #4 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s Best Songs list for 2008. Guitarist/vocalist Eric Earley leads the Pacific Northwest sextet in a song about a teenager who wanders into the woods and sees himself transform into a wolf, getting covered in fur and understanding the pack (see, I don’t always hate on the supernatural werewolf/vampire scene).

The song is guitar-driven, but the background music includes a banjo, harmonica and computerized sound effects of a wolf howling and birds chirping. All in all, it makes for a very interesting and engaging song. Lots of layers here.

“Furr” has only been in my iTunes library a couple weeks, but it’s definitely gotten heavy rotation recently. Listening to Earley’s voice, it’s almost impossible not to detect a little Bob Dylan. With that likeness, coupled with the folksy tone most of their songs take, you can see the band is heavily influenced by Dylan.

Since this song debuted, Blitzen Trapper has come out with an EP titled “Black River Killer.” In mid-November, the band wrapped up the Australian leg of their 2009 tour.