Plague Park

Last updated
Plague Park
HF-PlaguePark.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 22, 2007
RecordedDecember 2006
Mount Zoomer: Montreal
Genre Indie rock
Length36:31
Label Sub Pop
Handsome Furs chronology
Plague Park
(2007)
Face Control
(2009)

Plague Park is Handsome Furs' first full-length album. Handsome Furs is Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Atlas Strategic) and his wife, Alexei Perry.

Contents

The record is named after the park Ruttopuisto, situated in Helsinki, Finland. [1] Commonly referred to as "Plague Park", the park grounds sit atop a mass grave that contains the victims of the 1710 plague. [2]

The recordings combine plaintive, angst-filled singing with loud, electronic accompaniment and heavy percussion. [3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry

No.TitleLength
1."What We Had"3:56
2."Hearts of Iron"3:35
3."Handsome Furs Hate This City"4:58
4."Snakes on the Ladder"4:30
5."Cannot Get Started"3:00
6."Sing! Captain"5:21
7."Dead + Rural"3:00
8."Dumb Animals"5:37
9."In the Radio's Hot Sun"2:34

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link
Drowned in Sound (8/10) link
Pitchfork Media (7.2/10) link
Popmatters (6/10) link
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link
Stylus Magazine (B) link
Robert Christgau Rating-Christgau-dud.svg link

Plague Park has received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 72 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [4]

Personnel

The following people contributed to Plague Park: [5]

Handsome Furs

Additional personnel

Notes

Track nine is listed on Sub Pop's website as "The Radio's Hot Sun", but in the physical liner of the album, is listed as "In The Radio's Hot Sun".

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References

  1. Radio Free Canuckistan, "Dan Boeckner Interview", December 12, 2007.
  2. Historical Tour in the Centre of Helsinki, "The Old Church and the adjacent cemetery" Archived 2008-03-11 at the Wayback Machine , helsinki.fi, retrieved January 8, 2008.
  3. Rayner, Ben."HANDSOME FURS". Toronto Star, Jun 5, 2007 Page: L.11
  4. Critic Reviews for Plague Park. Metacritic. Retrieved 28 June 2011
  5. Plague Park - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 28 June 2011
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