SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FUR TRADE – DARK CELEBRATION

Fur Trade
Dark Celebration
Light Organ Records

Fur Trade has brushed-off the pixie dust and re-emerged with Dark Celebration, their sophomore album to their grooving 2013 debut Don’t Get Heavy. Curators Steve Bays (Mounties, Hot Hot Heat) and Parker Bossley (Gay Nineties)  have revitalised Fur Trade to combine their exceptional music talents once again, in this eclectic new release.

Dark Celebration, released through Light Organ Records of Vancouver, certainly brings the roof-top afternoon patio dance party energy and broad quirky variety of the Fur Trade style, just as their first release, but on another level.  Dark Celebration presents less of a “yacht rock” vibe and ventures into an off-beat, hyper-psychedelic dreamy mix of ‘70s disco and ‘80s tropical pop.

While drawing from creative influences, Fur Trade manages to follow no rules and keep their music unique to themselves. Dark Celebration is lyrically and sonically mostly an upbeat album, made with a wide array of instruments and interesting, quirky sounds. Highlights include “New Rules For Love”, “Make it To The Morning”, “Monaco”, “Dark Celebration”, and “13 Stories”.

The Bays and Bossley collective has been productive over the past year, releasing the Fur Trade singles “Christmas In a Cage” in late 2022 and more recently their cover of the Men Without Hats classic 1983 hit “The Safety Dance”. Dark Celebration, recorded and produced by the duo, is a welcome addition to the smallish but fledgling Fur Trade catalogue.

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