Rockin' Our Turntable: The Futureheads
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 3, 2008 9:45PM
The Futureheads' live show is a spectacle to behold. The band combines ultra-tight four-part harmonies with whip-snap drumming and razor sharp guitars. Their debut album was the best thing XTC hadn't recorded in two decades. The band seemed poised to have it all.
Their sophomore disc came out to middling reviews and to be honest, it just wasn't nearly as good as their first one. The band retreated for a rethink and recently reemerged with the self-released This Is Not The World, hitting the stores today. The group decided to forgo the label route and handle things themselves and it appears as if this newfound freedom has resulted in the strongest musical statement we've heard from the band.
The hooks fall out of the speakers at a torrential rate, and the band's dynamic is both technically and artistically impressive. A track like "Think Tonight" burst forth like a charging rhinoceros only to pirouette into a sing-a-long chorus that sweeps you up in its ebullience. The Futureheads sound like they've fallen back in love with music and employ a missionary zeal in their efforts to translate this joy into songs that attract the masses through sheer will.
At times the band still sounds an awful lot like The Jam and XTC, but it's not just a vocal or melodic similarity that drives that comparison. Instead its the remarkable talents of the collected Futureheads that creates songs that handily stand up to their canonical ancestors.