Thick Brown Fur was an accident and probably should have been aborted. In late 2004, then roommates, Josh Iverson and Neal Maccarone, began creating strange jingles and twisted folklore so that Iverson could better familiarize himself with the recording equipment while he helped The Mullets engineer their third album, Drink Like Fish. With Maccarone on Drums and Iverson on guitar, and both on Schlitz, they wrote about what they knew best: science fiction, freaks of nature, demon children and love through the eyes of the vertically challenged. The strange, yet catchy melodies started to surface and somehow appealed to listeners in a ridiculously profound way.

They brought in friend, Nick Steranko to round out the sound on bass and continued to record for fun. But what started out as a goofball side project, evolved into pandemonium as the three began to play shows at local bars and hosted the first (and best) Folino Fest in March of 2005 in Palo Alto, Pennsylvania.

About the same time, they realized that what they had been working on was to become their first, and last album. Chest Wig was released in the Spring of ’05. The music itself can best be described as experimental indie-pop. Fuzzy guitars jangle, the bass grooves, drums bob their heads and the harmonies never try too hard. A cult following quickly emerged, thriving on the Fur’s live antics and singing along to songs like “Five Feet of Rage,” “Soda Factory,” and the band’s raucous theme song which they began and ended each and every show with.

It all ended just as quickly as it began, though, and the band dismantled later that year when Iverson graduated from college and took a job out of town.

Thick Brown Fur’s legacy played out like a B-movie. Luckily for us, there’s always room for a sequel. In the Summer of 2008, Thick Brown Fur got together to play a handful of reunion gigs and penned the song “Pet” which was released on Blind Pigeon Records Compilation #6. All three members remain close friends.


website: myspace.com/thickbrownfur