The Village voice Covers Ezra Furman at the Panache CMJ showcase

“In a raucous headlining set for Panache Booking’s showcase at the Knitting Factory on Wednesday, Ezra Furman proved why his brand of snarling glam-punk goes above and beyond mere posturing and into essential territory. Clad in a plaid school-girl skirt, with pearls around his neck and lipstick on his face, the purple-haired, gender-fluid Furman delivered a series of three songs mid-set that were clear game-changers. The first, “Body Was Made,” is a vitriolic fuck-you to body police; he dedicated it to “all the queers.” That was followed promptly by “Wobbly,” possibly one of the truest odes to gender dysphoria ever penned. But it was a rollicking rendition of the Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll” that placed these personal protests back within a musical milieu, reminding the crowd that music has been about rebellion for a long, long time now. Furman is brilliant at using his art to examine the possibilities of a post-gender reality. — Lindsey Rhoades…”