Show preview: Moon Furies at Double Door, 3/28

By Gene Wagendorf III 

Windy City Rock favorites Moon Furies will be stopping at Double Door on Thursday night as a part of their Vengeance Tour '13. The Brooklyn-by-way-of-Chicago electro-poppers are making the rounds in support of "La Cabeza," a single that's attracted praise from the likes of Rolling Stone and The Huffington Post.

The track is another step forward for a band constantly evolving its sound; "Cabeza" combines Moon Furies trademark tandem vocal assault and glitzy synth lines with a darkened edge and sinister use of space. The addition of drummer Sammy Clark and his tribal beats sets the song apart from anything the band has recorded previously- lending a tangible weight to the song's steady build and snapping seamlessly into place during dancier moments. 

I've seen Moon Furies more times than I can count, from acoustic street performances to the finale of their 100 Shows in 100 Days Charity Tour, and while each gig has been different each one has been a fucking blast. The trio excels and combing smart-hooks and dynamic vocal work with a manic party energy that few other bands can match. 

Moon Furies plays on Thursday, March 28th at Double Door with Perfect Kiss, Glass Lux, Distant Cities and Starfoxxx. The show is $7 ($10 at the door) and 21+ with doors at 8pm and the show at 8:30.You can RSVP on Facebook here. Check out "La Cabeza" below.

Show review: Moon Furies at Double Door, 12/2

By Gene Wagendorf III

Moon Furies blasting out "Sun Burnt Love"

Former Chicago residents/current Brooklynites Moon Furies returned home Friday night for the first time since completing their 100 Shows in 100 Days charity marathon this past summer. Armed with a new drummer and a batch of fresh songs, not to mention matching turquoise pants, the band looked... snug. Energy was abundant from the get-go as the trio blasted off with "Way Down," from their 2011 release Mercury. The track found vocalists Andy Kiel and Jim Wittmann snapping trundling rhymes at each other over fizzing synth lines while gyrating to dance beats.

Moon Furies have never been short on catchy hooks, and the new material played Saturday proved that their load was not blown on record one. The first such cut found more of Kiel's flow snaking around a curvy synthesizer lead and clattering drum work by aforementioned newcomer Pat McAvena. Later, it was Kiel's guitar that took center stage on a new tune, slapping a zaftig crunch on some shadowbox percussion. A bit more bite than what I'd come to expect from Moon Furies, and something that a less confident group might have botched. Smooth electro-pop bands can get themselves into trouble when they drop the slick and get a little dirty, but here it worked, and with the right production it could be damned refreshing on a record.

Kiel and McAvena jamming

 Despite a joke about the song's subject (a "bitch"), "Look At Me" stood out as being the urgent feeling song of the night, a result of a desperate-to-celebratory vocal turn and McAvena's mountainous crashing and thumping. The audio orgasm came courtesy of Wittmann, who dropped to his knees and wailed on his trumpet like he was trying to punch a hole in the roof with pure sound. "Sun Burnt Love" provided a nice moment, and proved that all breakups aren't ugly, as the band invited former drummer Andrew Hertzberg onstage to jam. The song benefited from the dual percussion, as well as Wittmann's raspy vocals. As if determined to blow his lungs out, he picked the horn up again and wandered through the Double Door, whirling out the opening notes of "Fallen" before springing back on the stage. Watching he and Kiel boogie through the set, I couldn't help but wonder if a part of them wished they could opt out of Moon Furies as well, at least for a night, so that they could spend more time dancing with the audience.

That unasked question was answered at the close of the set, when the band debuted their video for "Mercury 13" and played along with it. Its slow build exploded into what I've previously praised as being their most euphonic hook, making the song both undeniable danceable and emotionally gripping. All three members of Moon Furies looked to be on cloud nine during it, which is probably only a few million miles lower than where they're aiming. Most of the crowd bopped along blissfully as Kiel and Wittmann harmonized on the line we cannot lose/ we were born to win. Well, they almost got it right. I'm thinking that this band is what they were born to do. Here's to winning.

Show review: Peter Bjorn & John, Moon Furies at Empty Bottle, 8/24

By Gene Wagendorf III 

Wittmann's manic trumpeting

Moon Furies capped off their 100 shows in 100 days project in style, playing to a sold out crowd at The Empty Bottle and opening for Peter Bjorn & John. The group had their trademark charisma and enthusiasm working overtime from the start, evidenced by the fact that bassist Jim Wittmann waited all of thirty seconds before launching himself off the stage to dance with the crowd. An inspired version of "Way Down," from the band's debut album Mercury, mashed together tandem vocals from Wittmann and guitar player Andy Kiel over a wiggling synth line that evokes the same party atmosphere as Salt-n-Pepa's classic "Push It." Some of the crowd, I'm assuming those at The Bottle specifically for PB&J, seemed a bit bewildered by Moon Furies at first, curious about what nonsense was interrupting their conversation or waiting for something to whistle along to. By the time Wittmann produced a trumpet to bellow out the finale of "Look At Me," those same people had turned the crowd into a dance club. Kiel joined his bass player in the crowd during the intro to "Logan Square," leaving drummer and Windy City Rock writer Andrew Hertzberg alone on stage. The song's fist-pumping melody trampolined around Hertzberg's snappy drumming, giving every bead of sweat the audience had worked up something to groove to. Just in case anyone in the back was feeling a bit disconnected, Wittmann meandered towards the bar wailing on his trumpet during "Fallen."

Kiel and Hertzberg

Playing 100 shows in 100 days is likely to do one of two things (maybe both?) to a band: dramatically hone their skills or drive them totally insane. The former is certainly true of Moon Furies, who played the last gig of their marathon like it was their last gig on earth. The set ended with the group's strongest tune, "Mercury 13," a song that takes everything great about the band and rolls it into 5 minutes of bliss. It opened with an airy hum before being yanked upwards by soaring vocals and thumping percussion. Slower verses bled into ultra catchy synth squeaks, rising and falling while maintaining ultimate danceability. The song/show's dramatic crescendo found Kiel melting on the stage with his guitar while Wittmann perched himself on the bass drum, armed again with his trumpet.  Hertzberg rolled and crashed on his kit while a trumpet solo softly faded out, ending the set.

See Moon Furies wrap up 100 shows in 100 days at Empty Bottle

By Frank Krolicki

Exciting news here at camp WCR: our writer Andrew Hertzberg's band, Moon Furies, is opening for Peter Bjorn and John this Wednesday night, August 24th, at the Empty Bottle! If you haven't seen Moon Furies yet, know that their show is a crazy good time. Combined with PB&J, the night is bound to be one epic explosion of fun.

Making it an even bigger deal, Moon Furies will be celebrating the final show in their "100 shows in 100 days" adventure that began in May, which found them playing venues, street corners and pretty much anywhere else you could think of from then until now to raise money for cancer research at the Kellogg Cancer Center. Check out the story WCIU did on the project below to find out why Andrew, Jim and Andy decided to take it on.

Currently no more tickets are for sale through the Empty Bottle's site, but word is that 100  25 more are being released at the door tomorrow night. So be sure to get there early! 9:30 p.m., $20, 21 and over.

Show review: Not in the Face, Moon Furies, Man Your Horse at Memories, 6/20

By Gene Wagendorf III

Moon Furies (photo: Gene Wagendorf III)

Rock and roll is full of clichés -- from musicians, writers and fans alike. We all cringe when we see them, and we're all no doubt guilty of contributing to them. Such was my night at Memories on the 20th of June. Before you think I'm slamming the bands that night, hold on, I'm not. The blame for the cliché moment rests solely at my own feet as three, yes, three times I turned to the guy next to me and said "Man, I wouldn't want to have to follow those guys." Each time I said it about a different band.

First up was Man Your Horse, a math rock trio from Vancouver. The first thing I noticed about the band was the way they set up: drummer front and center with the guitarist and bass player flanking him on opposite sides. I don't know if this was premeditated or simply out of necessity (with a total of five bands playing over the course of the night the stage area was swamped with gear), but man did it work. Said drummer was a fucking maniac on the skins, rolling and pounding out soaring beats that felt more like thunderstorms than parts of a song. Jack Kerouac once described a jazz quartet as working with "unmusical ideas that nevertheless never leave the music, always there, always far out."  That's all I could think of while watching this guy work in tandem with the angular melodies and bubbly bass lines his co-conspirators were conjuring. It sounded like a mess, and usually that's not a good thing, but this was that rare kind of mess that works, that makes you want to move. Man Your Horse ended on what I think was "Breakfast for Dinner," but the set did such a good job of bleeding together as a single piece of music that it doesn't really matter. What matters is that they ended on the strongest note possible.

And so it happened for the first time. "I wouldn't want to have to follow those guys."

Moon Furies to play 100 shows in 100 days for cancer research

Posted by Frank Krolicki

Chicago electro-pop/rock trio Moon Furies are about to take on something big. Starting on Tuesday, May 17th at Subterranean, the band will perform 100 shows in 100 days. Crazy, right? That's a pretty impressive endeavor by itself, but what makes it even more admirable is that the band will be donating all proceeds to the Kellogg Cancer Center to aid in cancer research. I'm happy to be able to say that as Moon Furies' drummer, Windy City Rock's very own Andrew Hertzberg is one of the guys behind this.  Watch the video below to hear Andrew and his bandmates Jim and Andy explain the project in more detail, and help them make money for a great cause by heading out to the shows!

See WCR's Andrew with Moon Furies this Wednesday at SubT

Posted by Frank

UPDATE 2/2: Due to the blizzard, this show has been canceled and will be rescheduled for a later date. In the meantime, you can check out Moon Furies at their next show, set for February 11 at Reggies.

One of Windy City Rock's own, Andrew Hertzberg, also happens to be one-third of local electro-rock outfit Moon Furies. This Wednesday, February 2nd, you can see Andrew and the band in action as part of a great lineup at Subterranean, which also features Future Ghosts, Leah Stargazing and the Ridgelands. Come out, hear some quality tunes and say hello! The show starts at 8 p.m. and $8 tickets are available here.

To prepare for the show, check out the debut Moon Furies record Mercury, available on Bandcamp. The band are letting the first 200 downloaders name their price. Listen to two tracks, "Way Down" and "Sun Burnt Love," below:

   Way Down by Moon Furies

   Sun Burnt Love by Moon Furies