The ADD-addled, brother-sister pop provocateurs The Fiery Furnaces came to The Annex Thursday, touring behind their newly released album, Widow City. The reviews can't seem to agree whether or not the CD is melodic, convoluted, both or neither, and despite openly declaring intentions toward the pop side, The Fiery Furnaces don't seem to know, either. The night opened with a shot of indie-pop bliss care of opener Drug Rug, who sported fuzz-guitar riffs straight out of the ’60s, driving drums and beguiling boy-girl vocal harmonies. Shaggy-haired singer and guitarist Sarah Cronin traded charmingly simple lyrics like, "In the summertime/ When I can't hide/ My love is by my side" with Tommy Allen, a lanky man with a Thom Yorke 5 o'clock shadow. The band started out quick and lo-fi, with Cronin bouncing around the mic and squealing "Thanks!" in between songs, then settled into a bluesy, saxophone-accompanied sound with a touch of alt-country. The second opener, Pit Er Pat from Chicago, played bassy experimental rock with instrumental interludes. The female singer played long legato runs on her keyboard while the long-haired, bandana-wearing drummer ably handled the percussion. The majority of their songs, however, seemed completely devoid of melodies or hooks, and the set sprang between disparate elements without any logical cohesion. One song started with a nimble, classical melody that showed promise, but it was soon abandoned as the band fell into a turgid waltz time. Songs would often wrap up in a cacophonous, satisfying ending, but it didn't make up for the seven minutes of boredom before it. The last song of the set was perhaps their best, but came out of nowhere with some staccato, machine-gun metal riffing, the vocalist wide-eyed and screaming. The Fiery Furnaces, led by Mathew and Ellen Friedberger, seemed to reflect both of these band's aesthetics. With Mathew Friedberger on keyboard, Jason Lowenstein (formerly of Sebadoh) on bass, and drummer Bob D'Amico playing a warm-up introduction, vocalist Ellen Friedberger slowly took the stage, sipping on a Corona. The trio then launched into "Philadelphia Grand Jury" from Widow City, which is sung from the perspective of a man on trial for a nameless crime, featuring the ominous refrain, "More crooked sons of bitches you can't ever come across." With each time it came around, it became increasingly unclear whether the accusation referred to the jury or the accused himself. The song was actually one of the more straightforward of the set, which leaned heavily toward Widow City, and featured songs with titles like "Clear Signals from Cairo" and "My Egyptian Grammar," each peppered with quirky narrative fragments like "a white-haired half Samoan girl from Darwin" and Navajo basketball coaches. The songs fit right in with their enigmatic older material — if not a bit more traditionally rock oriented — with Lowenstein and D'Amico supplying a chunky bass riff and a fat bottom-end. Mathew Friedberger, meanwhile, leaned on turn-on-a-dime dynamic shifts between dissonant, skronking keyboard flourishes and clean, melodic accompaniment. This complemented his sister's vocals, which alternated between insistent, soulful phrases and a rapid-fire declaiming of lyrics that bordered on spoken word (or straight-up talking). Unfortunately, many new songs seemed to skew to the latter, making much of the material sound similar and leaving the audience waiting impatiently for the next hook. The new setup also changed how they played some of their older material, which the band endlessly mishmashed and reinterpreted to sometimes ill effect. This was particularly apparent on the lumbering garage stomp version of "Birdie Brain," from 2004's Blueberry Boat, which wasn't nearly as good as the ebullient original. On the other hand, the medley of songs played from 2005's universally panned album Rehearsing My Choir was a complete revelation, the band playing whirling instrumentals punctuated by brief odd phrases like "zapped by the zombie" and "fountain, sweet fountain." Another brilliant success was a mash-up of their single "Single Again" and "Don't Dance Her Down," off of 2003's Gallowsbird Park. Building off the energy of these successes, the band ended with "Restorative Beer" and "Japanese Slippers" off of Widow City, the latter featuring a couple whose romantic dalliances are constantly interrupted when "Mr. Raymond and his Japanese slippers come creeping in." In the same way, The Furnaces' set ended up being a success, and every time your attention started to stray, another strange and sweet melody would slide back into the labyrinth.