In spite of having a band name that comes dangerously close to sounding precious, The Boy Bathing is not a precious band. Fronted by singer-songwriter David Hurwitz, the New York-based four-piece has garnered comparisons to Bright Eyes and The Arcade Fire with folk rock ballads that are as brutally honest as they are seductively sweet. And if The Boy Bathing's full-length debut, A Fire to Make Preparations, is at times grandiose, it's the most self-effacing grandiosity you're likely to encounter this side of Sufjan Stevens. Violins and trumpets make frequent appearances, fortifying the wistful little kid harmonies of Hurwitz and bass player-cum-backup singer Jeannie Scofield with the grown-up Sturm und Drang of a badly broken heart. Album opener "The Question's Simple" would seduce even the most jaded indie purist, cleverly tracing an arc between The White Stripes' sing-songy "We Are Going To Be Friends" and The Arcade Fire's anthemic "Rebellion (Lies)." The result is terrifyingly pretty - a quality that seeps through the rest of the album like a morphine drip. "The Miner's Jewel" is the best song The New Pornographers never wrote, its shuffling optimism providing an unlikely vessel for a paean to nostalgia, desire and regret. "The Beasts Obey" sounds like New York by way of Nashville, with Hurwitz's slide guitar snaking around lyrics that slice and dice with Lou Reed's serrated edge. As A Fire to Make Preparations proves again and again, lyrics may be The Boy Bathing's strongest suit. Whether whispered, cooed or snarled, Hurwitz's words delight with their disarming blend of unpredictability, insight and jubilant resignation. Closing track "A Fire" provides a perfect ending to the album's tragicomic tale of archly observed disappointment, progressing from a jarringly minimalist synth intro to a choir of voices proclaiming the joy of arson. It shouldn't work, but it does. Beautifully.
--Kenyon Phillips
