The Fiery Furnaces - EP

My first Fiery Furnaces record, although (as these things go with 'buzz' artists) I've heard a handful of the songs on it before - "Single Again", "Here Comes The Summer", "Sing For Me". I think I read somewhere that this was actually a collection of various previously released stuff, including b-sides, which possibly explains why it's designated an ep despite clocking in at around 41 minutes. So, they're a duo, and they make quirky, whimsical pop, which naturally brings Mates of State to mind, but the Fiery Furnaces have a fuller sound than that other outfit, and also a more diverse instrumental palette (even if much of it is programmed/keyboarded). All told, it's quite good, but the quality of the songwriting is too uneven for the record to stand out for me (if all the songs were as good as the opening pair of "Single Again"/"Here Comes The Summer", well, this really would've been something).