The Finches: Six Songs EP

Though it’s not an obvious comparison, the Finches call to mind nothing so much as a alternative folk version of the Fiery Furnaces. Sure, both bands’ names start with the letter “F” and they both play the boy-girl line-up card (though Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs and Aaron Morgan aren’t siblings), but they also share a knack for melody and clever lyrics. It woulnd’t be a stretch to hear Eleanor Friedberger sing the off-kilter paean to wanderlust, “The Road” (“My home is wishing me away”) or the oblique take on a loveless marriage, “The House With Two Front Doors”. But Pennypacker Riggs is her own woman, with a rich, clear voice and a great balance between conversational (“I can pick you up cuz I kinda like to drive”, goes the chiming “Daniel’s Song”) and theatrical (“I command you to be a stranger unto me”, she demands on “The Stranger”). Sonically, it all sounds like you’d expect a folk album to sound, especially one that was recorded in a weekend by Morgan’s father — simply strummed with a shot of jangle, and even a little country twang on the closing “The Last Song of 2003”. Six Songs EP is a great teaser for the Finches’ debut LP, due Fall 2006. Even if you don’t think you like folk, check the Finches out.