Amusement Parks on Fire Filter US Recordings / 2005
One of the things I like to do when I listen to music is lay on my bed, sometimes with a bottle of wine, and just sort of think about stuff, occasionally stopping to feel my heart flutter when it is touched with some really well-played moment. I hesitate to call this a zone-out, and I hesitate to call Amusement Parks on Fire a zone-out band. Mike Feerick et al are rather the sort of band that makes you feel good while you perhaps are otherwise engaged with your various thoughts.
“Jewels” opens the album with a beautiful prelude of layered instrumentation, the quality of which is delightful, the effect of which is haunting. The album evolves from this into a series of songs that both stand alone and together with equal strength and skill. The pop of Amusement Parks on Fire is primarily driven by Feerick's vocals and some energetic percussion, and is simultaneously tempered by the ethereal layering of guitars, keyboards, piano, strings and bass. The album is mournful and hopeful, energetic and mellow, and otherwise excellent and worth your time, both for listening and thinking along to.
-- Rebecca Thorndike, 06/06/05
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