Forest Fire - “They Pray Execution Style”
Most songs on Staring at the X, the slept-on sophomore album from Brooklyn’s Forest Fire, exist in a comfortable place between rough-hewn folk rock and crunch-leaden spaciness. But here, on the record’s standout centerpiece, they deviate furthest from their comfort zone and in so doing stumble upon perhaps the most dangerous and exciting version of themselves possible. Natalie Stormann takes the lead from usual frontman Mark Thresher on all fronts, giving a slick and level-headed vocal performance while her bass guitar becomes the iron backbone of the song, a menacing disco anchor around which the rest of the band smears static, noise, touches of synth, and the barest of beats. Though Forest Fire should in no way be considered a danceable band, the way they tear apart a steady four-on-the-floor pulse and electronic arpeggios, leaving only intermittent scraps drifting in their wake, is wholly gripping. They’re not afraid to let Stormann’s phrases hang in mid-air or let the grainy buzz of guitar feedback linger over a chord change, abstracting the otherwise structured style from which they’re pulling. “They Pray Execution Style” is the rare song that complements the established work of a band while simultaneously pointing the way forward to an electrifying new future.
