Listening to Repatriated, I get the impression Handsome Furs frontman Dan Boeckner has spent a lot of time listening to David Bowie circa
the Berlin Era. In fact, I’d
go so far to comment that Repatriated might be mistaken for a
tribute to Low or Heroes. Take for instance Boeckner’s
singing. In lines such as: I see the future / It’s
coming low he mimics almost on the nose Bowie’s
inflection on Breaking Glass from Low. The same is true regarding instrumentation. Though performed on keyboard instead of electric guitar,
the repeated riff recalls Blackout
from Heroes almost to a T. I don’t think is bad as
such, since Repatriated is a good
track. I was nodding along inside moments. The trouble is that, should I feel the urge to listen to electronic-driven Bowie tracks,
I’ll head to the originals. Hence though it’s
enjoyable, Boeckner’s song feels redundant to
me.
