By Jesse Cataldo

The indications were all there on the Fiery Furnaces first album, 2003’s Gallowsbirds Bark, the playful, open ended song structures, the prosaic style of the lyrics, the rambling guitar digressions. Still, there was no hint of the sprawling monster that Blueberry Boat would prove to be.

Forming in 2000, the Fiery Furnaces first drew comparisons to the White Stripes for their bluesy two-piece sound and more importantly, the sibling status of its two members, Eleanor and Matt Friedberger. Blueberry Boat is sure to eliminate any of these comparisons, as the band expounds on the blues riffs of their first album and uses them to build rickety towers of proggy electronic flourish.

Spanning 13 tracks and over 70 minutes, the album is monstrous in both its size and its design. The songs switch focus constantly, rarely staying in one place for long and often turning into entirely different songs halfway through. This gives the feel of many more than 13 tracks, especially on those such as “Chief Inspector Blancheflower,” which goes in so many directions and packs in so many effects that it’s hard to tell what’s going on.

The lyrics on Gallowsbirds Bark were akin to travelogues, detailing Eleanor’s adventures in Europe while barely keeping both feet grounded in reality. On Blueberry Boat, the lyrics are written by Matt, and while they retain the same construct, they constantly shift into fantasy and utter madness. The lyrics usually drift about, losing interest and settling into several different places over the course of the song. The album opener, “Quay Cur,” begins with a bellows-like electronic organ, spans 10 minutes and is so packed with descriptions and nouns that the lyrics, even in a tiny font, stretch almost two pages in the booklet. The song, places its setting at some point relatively close to the 19th century, although bizarre anachronisms and modern references prevent anything from making total sense. A large portion of the album concerns maritime affairs, with Eleanor singing about sailing the Straits of Taiwan and facing off with bloodthirsty pirates who threaten her cargo in the title track.

In short, Blueberry Boat is both wildly bizarre and intensely interesting, but its sheer size will be enough to discourage anyone who doesn’t have the patience to give the album several listens before being able to understanding what’s going on.