[engl] Chicago Power Poppers 'The Fur Coats are back with this 4 track EP to coincide with their UK tour. Short-Brain is the latest 7? by The Fur Coats, the musical vehicle of Chicagoan (recently Brooklynite) Marc Ruvolo. Marc has enjoyed a long and storied career as a musician and promoter, from booking his first DIY punk show in 1984, to fronting a number of long-running bands (No Empathy, Traitors, The Atari Star, Das Kapital), to running the Johann’s Face Records label (since 1989 – recently passed the one-hundred-release mark!). Wanting to tour more frequently, but finding the original members of the Coats unavailable, Ruvolo has now opted for a revolving cast of characters in terms of live and studio rhythm sections. Joining him for the four songs on Short-Brain are John Polydoros (Off With Their Heads, Vacation Bible School) along with Chris Mattern on bass, with Kyle Manning (Tens/Costanza), handling drum duties. The 7? also features cover art by the UK’s scribblin’ wunderkind, Wolfmask. The four songs on Short-Brain fall into the realm of pop-punk/power-pop, and showcase Ruvolo’s love for melody, while still throwing in an odd lyrical turn or two. Recorded in Chicago, if you listen closely you can hear the influences of some of his favorite favorite bands: Naked Raygun, The Smoking Popes, and the Buzzcocks.