I only got to enjoy the Handsome Furs for a short while, but luckily they were so far above my expectations that that’s really all I needed to know they knocked it out of the park. Why the reason for the low to medium expectations? Well, having seen Wolf Parade last year, I wasn’t really sure that just the two-person Handsome Furs show would do it for me. I’m a big fan of Plague Park and like the new record Face Control OK, but how’s that going to come across in the live setting where they don’t have a drummer or anything?

MP3: Handsome Furs – I’m Confused

Turns out this situation is actually quite beneficial to Handsome Furs. They’ve got the drum beats pre-programmed, so that just leaves Dan Boeckner to rock the guitar and girlfriend Alexei Perry to experiment with synth/keyboard. I got there just in time to hear the new single “I’m Confused,” and was wildly impressed. Obviously I’m always going to prefer the experience of seeing all of Wolf Parade, but Dan and Alexei have a great thing going on with Handsome Furs as well.