Furnaces more Fiery on latest

I'm speechless. The Fiery Furnaces, my least favorite next big thing, has put out a solid, focused EP that's not annoying. Well, not nearly as annoying.\nIt wasn't that Eleanor and Matt Friedberg weren't capable of it. However, 2004's Blueberry Boat was a rambling, convoluted, 76-minute epic train wreck. It would jerk from hook to unrelated hook, offending every sensibility of consistency and structure. It featured just about every instrument in the world played at once. Weirdoes in horn-rimmed glasses called it "a pop bouillabaisse;" I called it "unfocused, self-indulgent crap."\nThis EP is different. It starts with the slightly grating "Single Again," but for all the overused, warbling analog synthesizers, it's catchy and well arranged and manages to avoid being overcooked. "Here Comes the Summer," "Evergreen" and "Tropical-Iceland" are all well-conceived, smart pop songs. They all feature the squawky, mish-mash keyboard arrangements that plagued their full-length, but they're a lot more restrained (and therefore endearing) on this record.\n"Duffer St. George" sounds like "Jimmy Crack Corn" and swells into a frantic cabaret meltdown before easing into echoed, distant piano; it's dynamic in energy and still constant in melody. On "Smelling Cigarettes" however, they're up to their old tricks again. It's a frustrating ADD slugfest similar to their prior work -- just as the band is starting to really flesh out a hook, they switch the melody and tempo entirely and basically start a whole new song. It's forgivable once or twice. Thankfully, it's kept to a minimum.\n"Cousin Chris" and the more delicate closer "Sullivan's Social Club" are like a middle ground between the well-crafted pop gems of the first half and the band's hallmark schizophrenic nightmare tunes. On the former, the tune hops from creepy to campy with concert piano and jangly guitars. The latter is bipolar and obnoxious, but the melody is sunny enough to redeem it.\nI don't doubt that the Fiery Furnaces have all the creativity in the world and a cadre of influences so indie it'll make you piss your girl-pants. It's just a matter of them having the discipline to pick one idea and run with it. There's no reason to ruin potential by being intentionally difficult and weird -- not unless that's the goal, in which case they might as well start saving for their plot in the graveyard for bands that were all reach and no grasp.