Ezra Furman and the Harpoons were a four-piece rock band active between 2006 and 2011. The band consisted of

Ezra Furman Ezra Furman (born September 5, 1986) is an American musician and songwriter. Furman was the lead singer and guitarist of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, formed in 2006, which ended with ''Mysterious Power'' (2011). Her subsequent work has include ...

(

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), Job Mukkada (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

), Adam Abrutyn (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

), and Andrew Langer (

). They formed at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in 2006.

History

They self-released their first album, ''Beat Beat Beat'' in June 2006, which was recorded in a series of college dorm rooms and engineered by former band member, Jahn Sood, and Dave Kant from Outtake Records. In August 2007, the group signed with

Minty Fresh Records Minty Fresh is a Chicago-based record label, founded in 1993 by Jim Powers with Anthony Musiala. The label is known for launching the careers of Veruca Salt. They also gave the Swedish band The Cardigans their first US release and released the d ...

for a two album contract and released their debut album ''

Banging Down the Doors ''Banging Down the Doors'' is the first officially released album by Ezra Furman & The Harpoons. It was released in 2007. The titles on the album are largely the same as those originally recorded and self-released by the band as ''Beat Beat Beat' ...

'', produced by

Brian Deck Brian Deck is an American music producer and member of band Red Red Meat. He co-founded Idful Studios in 1988. Since becoming a full-time producer, Deck has worked with bands and artists including Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine, Califone, All Smiles, ...

for

. ''Banging Down the Doors'' was met with critical acclaim, making several best of 2007 lists. Their second album, ''

Inside the Human Body ''Inside the Human Body'' is a 2008 album by Ezra Furman & The Harpoons. It was Furman's second officially released album, following the previous year's '' Banging Down the Doors''. Track listing # "We Should Fight" # "Take Off Your Sunglasses" # ...

'', was released in October 2008, and was also well received by critics. After their contract with

expired, they released a self-produced album titled ''Moon Face'', which included live recordings and some of Furman's solo work. When the album was ordered through the band's website, one could include a small passage about themselves, and as an addition to the album, Furman would write a song singularly for the purchaser. Their third studio album, ''

Mysterious Power ''Mysterious Power'' is the third studio album by Ezra Furman and the Harpoons. It was released on April 5, 2011 as the follow-up to 2008's ''Inside the Human Body''. It was the band's last album; Ezra Furman has since gone on to record music unde ...

'', was released on April 5, 2011. through

Red Parlor Records Red Parlor Records (Red Parlor Entertainment Group) is an independent record label, founded in 2005 by Steven Goff and Jerry Krenach. Red Parlor is based in Norwalk, Connecticut and distributes its releases through Entertainment One in the US, Pr ...

. It was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by

Doug Boehm Doug Boehm (born November 4, 1969)''U.S. Public Records Index'', Vols 1 & 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American record producer and sound engineer who specializes predominantly in the rock music genre and has worked ...

.Conner, Thomas
"Music: Via Chicago"
, ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', 8 April 2011.

has since created three solo albums and has toured with her band Ezra Furman and the Boy-Friends.

Discography

Albums

* ''Beat Beat Beat'' (2006) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2008) * ''

'' (2011)

Compilations

* ''Moon Face: Bootlegs and Road Recordings 2006-2009'' (2009)

References

External links

*
Ezra Furman and the Harpoons interview & mixtape at Raw Investigations

Ezra Furman and the Harpoons on NPR's World Cafe, 2007

Ezra Furman and the Harpoons video interview at Prefix

Session with "They Shoot Music, Don't They"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ezra Furman and the Harpoons Musical groups established in 2006 American folk rock groups Musical groups from Chicago Rock music groups from Massachusetts