|
Think 80's rock. Think glorious Vapors style 80's noisy
pop music - centered around brilliant guitar lines, crisp rhythms,
and call and response vocals. Think Devo sounding ridiculousness
fused with the rock sensibilities of early Adam And The Ants.
Think great music. Think songs about robots and carnivals. Think
The Futureheads.
From the opening smashing of "Le Garage" to the ending
note of "Man Ray", The Futureheads serve up a severe
can of rock and roll whoop-ass. The songs are mostly good fun
lyrics, normally in the category of "too clever for their
own good", packaged up with power chords and brilliant drumming.
Each of the four members sings, which adds an ingenious and compelling
texture to the music. The first time I heard "A To B"
I thought the band was saying "Et Tu Brutus". Which
would have also been cool, but then I realized how much more nonsensical
this band tended to be. "Alms" instantly recalls the
glory days of The Jam with a bit of The Fall thrown
in for good measure. "Danger Of The Water" is a simplified
tune; filled with voices on voices slowly building to a crescendo
of sound… reminds my ears of certain Freur songs,
without the synths. "Carnival Kids" is pure fun with
its chanting "I can't say what they're gonna do… old
enough to know better" and the sporadic intermixing of the
four vocals all playing off the words of the others. "First
Day" is a brilliant throwback about something as mundane
as attending your first day at a new job and your co-workers telling
you about how "This is the job that people die for".
The real joy in this song is when the band suddenly says "Faster,
faster…" and then moves the tempo up to an even more
frantic pace… and they do it more than once.
Brilliance. Garage rock will never be safe again, as The Futureheads
tear into the glory days of the post-punk/ new wave movement
and toss it up with the current guitar rock trends. Overall,
this self-titled debut is a rollicking good time in the purest
rock and roll sense of the phrase. And don't forget to check
out their killer website! It's truly awesome. Never will you
find yourself bored or wishing you were listening to something
else. This is rock. This is The Futureheads. Definitely too
clever for their own goods.
-L. Keane
Track Listing:
1. Le Garage
2. Robot
3. A To B
4. Decent Days And Nights
5. Meantime
6. Alms
7. Danger Of The Water
8. Carnival Kids
9. The City Is Here For You To Use
10. First Day
11. He Knows
12. Stupid And Shallow
13. Trying Not To Think About Time
14. Hounds Of Love
15. Man Ray
Check out
more reviews
 Talk
Back
e-mail the chief
Like this article?
e-mail
it to a friend!
|
The
Futureheads 
