Austinist Reviews The Futureheads' News And Tributes
One of the great ironies of British pop music is the fact that some of its sunniest acts hail from the most inhospitable, isolated areas on the island—New Order emerged from the industrial city of Manchester, while a certain mop-topped quartet paid their dues in the bombed-out port centre of Liverpool. The city of Sunderland, in Northeastern England, is noted for its high rates of unemployment, crime, and teen pregnancy—little wonder, then, that The Futureheads, Sunderland natives all, should deliver such a consistently exuberant set of songs on their sophomore album, News And Tributes.
Equal parts Devo, New Order, and The Circle Jerks, The Futureheads stand out from the pack of stylishly angular British guitar bands by virtue of sheer velocity—indisputably the speed-kings of the new-new wave, their songs tend to whip past in a speed-blur of frenzied, triple-time guitar attack, adorned with angelic four-part harmonies (each Futurehead sings on most songs) to boot. Nobody can say these guys don’t try hard.
News And Tributes was recorded with Brit-pop vet Ben Hillier after a whirlwind of tours, a UK Top Ten single (for their cover of Kate Bush’s "Hounds Of Love"), and a gold-selling debut LP. Naturally, there is a newfound sense of confidence in the songwriting, coupled with a healthy dose of road-tested aggression. "Yes/No" and "Cope" open the album with a one-two punch of unrestrained fury; “Return Of The Berserker” is quite possibly the most appropriately-named song of the new millennium.
Elsewhere, “Burnt” and “Back To The Sea” hint at a heartbroken maturity not readily apparent on their earlier recordings. “Whatever’s pulling you isn’t pulling me,” intone the lads on the latter, a half-bitter, half-heartbroken breakup track bracing in its honesty, coupled with a bouncy melody that endeavors to put a smile over the whole affair. Following such disillusionment, "Skip To The End" approaches romance from a suitably cynical standpoint—“If I could cheat/I would skip to the end/see if it was worth going through.”
The album begins dragging its feet a bit towards the end, and overall suffers from same-y production—discounting the token acoustic ballad, every song comes pre-packaged in guitar-buzz and pounding low-end—but with a sound as distinctive as this, same-y production is easily forgiven. The antithesis of a sophomore slump, News And Tributes finds Sunderland’s finest making intriguing variations on their hell-bent delivery without losing any edge, ensuring gold albums and whirlwind tours for years to come.
Just remember, boys: there’s no place like home.
The Futureheads play La Zona Rosa Saturday 06/24th.
