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LIAM MALONEY Enlarge Image

Handsome Furs

Handsome Furs — the synth-pop project from husband/wife duo Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade) and Alexei Perry — have a knack for translating their globe-trotting adventures into great albums. Take  2009’s  Face Control, which was influenced by their travels club-hopping through post-Soviet Union Eastern Europe. (Fun fact: The album takes its title from an unofficial policy at upscale Russian clubs in which people are admitted based on physical attractiveness.)
   

For their latest outing, Sound Kapital, Boeckner and Perry drew from their experiences travelling and touring through Asia. Released in June via Sub Pop, the Furs’ third album is a noisy, hot ’n’ bothered electro-punk opus that easily evokes images of packed, bustling streets in sweltering cities and sweat-slicked basement shows bursting with the energy and urgency of music-starved youth.
   

In other words, it’s a note-perfect love letter to the cultures that inspired it.
   

"Asia was a huge influence, sonically, because everything’s so wildly cacophonic and abuzz with energy," says Perry, 29, over the phone from the couple’s home in Montreal. "Every street stall is competing with the next street stall — it’s all this competitive noise. We wanted to recreate that on the record."
   

Sound Kapital has a lo-fi, gritty, view-from-the-street authenticity about it; it’s obvious that Perry and Boeckner aren’t the stick-to-the-resorts, tourist-types. No, they help emerging punk bands in oppressed countries put on (illegal) DIY shows.
   

"When we were in Myanmar, we were surprised we were allowed in the country. It’s a terrifying place for its residents — and we were there on illegal visas," Perry says. "We couldn’t promote our show because we didn’t want to get the kids in trouble — or get deported."
   

Working with bands that are literally underground — such as Myanmar’s Side Effect, which Handsome Furs even helped make a record — was an eye-opener for Perry and Boeckner. These are artists who don’t just have limited access to instruments, venues and recording gear; they have limited access to electricity.
   

"All of those experiences were really inspiring for us — especially seeing how fellow artists work under very different conditions," Perry says. "It’s wholly inspiring and makes me want to make music."
   

Next up on the Furs’ tour wish list? Syria, Lebanon and Ethiopia — countries most North American bands wouldn’t even consider visiting, let alone booking dates in. For Perry and Boeckner, however, playing shows in countries that are hungry for them is what makes it all worthwhile.
   

"I understand why bands don’t do it — it’s difficult to make happen and it’s not always the most lucrative of choices," Perry says. "But the experiences you get are so rewarding."
   

The duo also met new challenges when writing and recording Sound Kapital — this is the first Handsome Furs record written exclusively on keyboards. (As I noted in my review a few weeks ago, fans of Boeckner’s fractured guitars can relax; they’re still all over the album.)
     

"When writing certain songs, you tend to use certain instruments," Perry explains. "We were going for frenzied and chaotic, and we felt synths and drums best captured the sentiment. It was a great challenge for Dan. As an artist, the best thing you can do is push yourself — even if you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing."
   

Still, don’t let the added electronics fool you into thinking Sound Kapital is cold and austere. It’s a raw, bloody album with a throbbing, human pulse.
   

"Even though we use drum machines, we’re not tech-heads," Perry says. "We have  punk and rock ’n’ roll in our history. Our live show is not what you’d expect — we feel like crazy people trying to use these machines to make our hearts felt."
 

HANDSOME FURS
July 15, 8 p.m., West End
Cultural Centre