The Fiery Furnaces – Chief Inspector Blancheflower

I’ve been fighting a fever today, so it’s perhaps fitting that I will now hoist upon you, gentle reader, one of the very strangest songs I know. It also happens to be a personal favorite. Bare with me on this one—if you’re not immediately convinced, I promise that you’ll be listening to a new song by the 3:20 mark.

Born salesman.

Let me try that again. The Fiery Furnace’s “Chief Inspector Blancheflower”:

• Clocks in at about nine minutes long
• Was released in 2004
• Performed by an actual brother and sister duo, who…
• Nearly derailed careers by recording an entire album with their grandmother on lead vocals
• Consists mainly of skronky synthesizers and skronky blues riffs
• Was popularized by Pitchfork (for better or worse)
• Weaves a multi-character narrative over the course of three distinct parts
• Comments on the influence of education on the life of a grown child
• Manages to piss off almost anyone I make listen to it, and
• Is one-of-a-kind

It could be the case that this is the kind of song that only truly makes sense through the fuzzy lenses that only Nyquil can forge. So be it. Save it for later or get yourself ill. It’s a fun ride.

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