The Sunderland quartet made their mark during the Franz Ferdinand incited 'art rock' vogue of 2004 with a debut album that was indebted to a string of catchy post-punk numbers, an unusual use of vocal harmony and a none too underplayed cover of Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love'.
Since then however, The Futureheads have found themselves somewhat lost on the wiley, windy moors and were allegedly close to splitting in the wake of 2006's 'News and Tributes'. However, exiting from their major label contract and setting up home on their own independent label, they returned with a more assured sounding album in 2008, 'This Is Not The World', which, if nothing else, confirmed their future as a going concern.
'The Chaos' then, appears to pick up where their previous album left off, although this time it feels as if the band are more comfortable in their own skins somehow, happy to play to their pop/punk strengths and not needlessly throwing curve balls to the detriment of a song's impact. Certainly this album's collection of short, sharp bursts of energy seems more focused than their past efforts.
Lyrically it won't win any first prizes but at least it's quirky and informed enough to offer a few tasty delights. 'The Baron', for example, implores us, in our post recession climate, to cease pulling out our hair or, at least, 'dance as it hits the floor'. Highlight 'I Can Do That' is a worthy treatise on the trials of the job seeker, the protagonist frustratedly imploring that they can turn their hand to anything, the song ending in a comic rendition of Keith Harris and Orville the duck's 'I Wish I Could Fly'.
'Sun Goes Down' is another romping number that evokes images of 'Joy Divison's 'Shadowplay' in its couplet, 'The sun goes down and the double life begins/It's a one way ticket to a city of sins' and, although that's where the comparison with the Mancunians pretty much begins and ends, you do get a sense that Sunderland's landscape has shaped and moulded the Futureheads in a similar way to how Manchester has had its effect on so many great bands.
None of the 11 tracks on 'The Chaos' will change the world then, despite laudable attempts to make some kind of sense of it, but they are delivered with a vim and vigour that makes the ride thoroughly enjoyable. Some achievement for a band who may yet benefit from defining a cult status.
No comments:
Post a Comment