Beats: Future of The Left – The Plot Against Common Sense Review
I want to
start out by saying that I feel embarrassed that I hadn’t even heard of Future of the Left before I got a press
release with a link to “I am the least ofyour problems”. I am literally ashamed of myself.
I’m glad I
listened though as I quickly fell in love with them purely for that song.
When I got
sent the album stream I was unusually bemused by a note in the email “I’ve attached the closest thing we have to
a bio – this band does things a little differently, and so we do not have a
traditional one.” – I knew the album was gonna be a bit special.
Literally
all I know about them is that they’re from Wales and apparently this album was
originally supposed to be a Broadyway musical based on the phone hacking scandal
but it was shelved due to budgetary reasons.
So, for
the album.
Musically,
it’s very bass-centric alt/punk-rock. The bass guitars are literally
groundshaking. There are other instruments, obviously, but this album seems to
literally built on solid basslines which is something I definitely cannot
fault. I really like the vocals too – Andrew Falkous sounds like he’s shouting
through a megaphone through the whole album which was probably the aim and it
works well.
This album
is lyrically and conceptually amazing. Falkous is clearly either absolutely
nuts or an absolute genius. I’m more inclined to believe the latter.
The album
opens up really nicely with Sheena is a
t-shirt salesman – fast drum beats, loud guitars and crunchingly shouty
vocals.
The one
song that really grabbed my attention, purely because of the title was “Robocop 4 – Fuck off Robocop” It’s
talking about the creative bankruptcy of the movie industry, a topic we can all
agree with. Musically, it’s really weird. Just punky noise and lyrically, it’s
even weirder and absolutely absurd:
“Pirates
of the Caribbean 47, Johnny Depp plays a robot pirate
Who loses
his wife in a game of poke and tries to win her
Back with
hilarious consequences”
What the
fuck? Amazing.
You’ve
also got the madness of “Sorry Dad, I was
late for the riot” which is an anti-rioting song with Falkous making
excuses for why he couldn’t go to the riots. Poor guy had a bad back.
Another
highlight of the album for me was the final track “Notes on Achieving Orbit” which is talking about the way people
view celebrities. People hold celebrities in too high esteem, another topic we
can all agree with: “Where were you when
Russell Brand discovered fire? Did you join with the crowds in Trafalgar square
and watch on a giant screen?”
All in all,
it’s a fucking top album. Musically it’s good but I don’t give a damn about
that when it’s lyrically nuts/genius (delete as applicable).
The album is
out on Tuesday 12th June and I’d highly recommend buying it if you
like punk rock absurdity.
To confirm
my findings that this album is totally awesome, you can stream it here:
Official
website: http://futureoftheleft.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/futureoftheleft
Twitter: https://twitter.com/futureoftheleft
Nate
Mate, saw FotL at the Norwich Art Centre a couple of years ago. They were mega: loud, fast, heavy and a little ragged, but always kept the songs together. Reminded me a little of At The Drive In, another band I'd have killed to see live. I am definitely going to have to check out this album.
ReplyDeleteSo jealous! I got the opportunity to review a gig but the dates were inconvenient!
DeleteDefinitely listen to the album, it's really something special!
Cheers!
great band great album if youve only just heard of FOTL maybe check out mclusky falkous and the drummer were both in it! its even more rough and ready than FOTL but just as batshit!
ReplyDeleteHey, I've been listening to McCluskey a bit lately. Even more mental!
Deletecheers!