Usually, when Andy Falkous sets his sights on a particular group of people, they have no way to escape his vitriol. Responsible for some particularly scathing lyrics in his time (and it’s impossible to overstate how much more relevant Lapsed Catholics, a rant against Rupert Murdoch and his media empire, has become, post-Hackgate), it’s normally the case that when Falco takes aim, he hits the mark.
The fact that the third album by Future of the Left (facebook) is called The Plot Against Common Sense (due out next spring) would seem to indicate that he has a lot on his mind, and Polymers are Forever clearly shows that those people who have rubbed the famously outspoken frontman up the wrong way had better start running. As in, right fucking now, because it’s probably going to get ugly really quick.
The six-song release has three songs that were fully recorded, and three that were left in demo form. This reviewer would consider it slightly ironic that the scales are tipped slightly in favour of the back half of this EP, and songs that the band “didn’t have the time, money or inclination to re-record”. On the whole, though, it makes no difference, because Polymers Are Forever is the best EP of the year. It’s not immediate (not exactly a byword for FotL material), but showcases even more depth than before and packs a considerable punch even though it’s just short of 22 minutes long.
Led by the title track, the only one of these songs that has made the album, the EP shows that Falco’s lyrics are perhaps better than they’ve ever been. A prominent line in blistering second track ‘Apologies to Emily Pankhurst’ is, ‘She is the opposite of sex, and the opposite of sex is no better than love’, while the chorus to ‘Dry Hate’ is delivered with all the force of a punch in the guts: ‘Think of us as ready-made, Jesus loves a renegade’. The song rails against ‘coffee-sniffing motherfuckers’ and is the sound of FotL stripping things back to their rawest. More of this on the album please.
There are also some interesting departures made on ‘My Wife is Unhappy’ and the ambitious, three-part closer ‘destroywhitchurch.com’, which show that the band, who have gone through some personnel changes since Travels With Myself and Another two-and-a-half years ago, are striving to push themselves forward, which makes the prospect of a 15-track album like The Plot Against Common Sense seriously exciting.
Falco’s vocal style remains an acquired taste, and there’s not much here to win over the unconverted, even if New Adventures is rather catchy (not in a Drink Nike sense, though); Future of the Left have always been a divisive band, mind, so nothing much has changed in that respect. What has changed is their desire to take risks: it’s become even more apparent, which bodes extremely well for their third album. It’s well possible that Polymers are Forever is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are Forever was released on November 14th through Xtra Mile Recordings.
The weekend’s proceedings began on Friday with a pre-party at the Brudenell Social Club which boasted a particularly brilliant line-up of local, national and international talent. Leeds based ethereal and epic Heart-Ships were first on stage. Their music is best described as a mix of post-rock and new folk and many in on the local music scene have hailed the band as the new Wild Beasts. Their track ‘Heart of a Wrestler’ was particularly memorable and is certainly worth a listen to get a clear idea of the band’s sound. The second band on were Shark Teeth, an act I have written about before on The Blue Walrus, back when they were known as Blood Oranges. They played a standard, if not a little rushed set of indie pop, while apologising throughout for their speedy performance. It was a shame to see the band unable to apply their usual crowd pleasing banter, nevertheless, their set was good but perhaps a tad predictable. We should all be glad to hear the band has a new release coming in the near future.
While JEFF and the Brotherhood played an impressive set of Ramones-like guitar heavy indie-punk, it was the fourth act, Alt-J, that I was really looking forward to. A lot of hype has surrounded this band (formally known as FILMS) and many have them down as being one of the big breakthrough acts of 2012. They play genre defying music, infusing a heavy presence of keys with guitar, bass and scattered tinny drums. Front man Joe Newman vocals were really refreshing, with an engaging mix of subtle and harsh tones which added something to the bands already impressive vocal harmonising, particularly noticeable in ‘Breezeblock’. You are best to listen to this group to really get to grips with them; they have the musical sensibilities of Bombay Bicycle Club but offer something very different and conceivably unique.
London based Theme Park were up next, playing their fun-loving funk rock to the largest of the fluctuating audiences of the evening. I originally had my aversions about the act as I struggled to overcome their remarkable similarity to Talking Heads. Yet, after this impressive and bouncy live set I was fully converted. They do offer something very special to audiences, and their best known track ‘Wax’, which has had a serious amount of radio airplay, left everyone feeling very pleased with themselves. It seemed almost a shame to end such an amazing evening of new music by plonking Trophy Wife on the end of it. They managed to get on stage around midnight to a smaller and very tired looking audience, many of us had arrived over four hours previously. Their set felt average and a little dull especially after the energy of their predecessors Theme Park.
Saturday saw the city of Leeds fill with new music fans, ready to sample some of the most exciting upcoming acts for 2012. This was my second Constellations Festival, and my second review of it. Unfortunately, this year really struggled to live up to the brilliance of last year’s event, which in fairness would have been difficult, with Dog Is Dead, Sky Larkin and Local Natives being some my favourites. Yet, we cannot say that the festival didn’t pick up some of the most talked about new bands in Britain.
My first act of the day was the dreary Big Deal. Unfortunately Constellations had opted for the Riley Smith Hall rather than The Refectory which they had last year, a fantastic venue with a real music history. The former, was too wide and dark; it was beyond a joke. The two performers of Big Deal played a dull set of tracks from their debut album ‘Lights Out’ to a relatively outsized and disappointed audience. The band was so limited by their set up, an electric and an acoustic guitar, and this really came through with tracks blending into one another with ease. Most seemed to have come for ‘Talk’ or ‘Chair’ as the crowd shuffled out at the end of these tracks.
After the disappointment of Big Deal I really needed a band to change things round. Thankfully, that Summer Camp was playing in Stylus. We turned up to a packed crowd of hard-core fans and those just generally interested in seeing a greatly talked about act. I loved the band’s mix of styles and genres with the dreamy nostalgic feel that runs through them all. They played the majority of their debut album ‘Welcome to Condale’ as well as adding in few old ones including ‘Round the Moon’. The band opened with ‘Better Off Without You’ and I was immediately reminded of Elizabeth Sankey’s exceptional voice, even though she was complaining of a sore throat. To the right of the stage was a large projector screen which played scenes of dancing and singing from famous films throughout the enjoyable set, suggesting something of the band’s influences.
Next up were hype band Spector, who played in the small venue of Mine in the depths of the University Union. The guitar heavy but essentially indie band has become known for their exciting live shows and they did not disappoint. I liked the band’s appearance and attitude, all dressed in suits and rebuking those who wandered out at the back of the room. Frontman Frederick Macpherson, formerly of Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man vocal was imperious on their delivery, really grabbing your attention. They seem to write fantastic sing along choruses, with the track ‘Not What You Wanted’ playing over in my head for the rest of the day.
We headed back to the Riley Smith for American indie folk/pop band Givers. If anyone has been obsessed with FIFA 2012 they certainly will have heard their fantastic song ‘Up, Up, Up’, while anther track ‘Meantime’ has had a fair amount of radio airplay. Although we waited a good fifteen minutes for the band to set up, it was certainly worth the wait. Each track was long but brilliantly performed and crafted. The duel vocals were perfectly combined and their set was greatly appreciated by the small crowd that had gathered to see them.
After catching the end of an enjoyable set by Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks we found a good place to stand and waited for Yuck. By the time the band came on stage the crowd had swelled considerably; it seemed that many had to come to check a band that has had an impressive year at the festivals. They played a tight and impressive set of tracks from their low-fi self–titled debut album including the fantastic ‘Suicide Policeman’.
After catching a little of 2:54 in Mine we headed back to the main venue for the day’s headliners Wild Beasts. They managed to pack Stylus to the rafters and we just managed to find somewhere to actually stand. You cannot fault the vocal of frontman Hyden Thorpe’s voice; it added something quite special to groups already impressive vocal harmonies. They played a striking set of enjoyable ambient and echoing alternative, you cannot deny thus band’s ability to write and a produce an amazing song.
This year’s Constellations Festival was a great opportunity to catch the rising stars of alternative music of 2012. I have to say that the pre-party at the Brudenell was easily as enjoyable as the main day of the festival, with Alt-J and Theme Park really impressing the audience. For £30 the festival seemed a little steep, particular as billed acts such as Spectrals didn’t appear.
The need for constant reinvention in modern music is something that is really starting to grate on me. Not every band can be like Radiohead and almost self-consciously seek to give themselves a new sound and image with every other album. Some bands simply try to do something different, take some risks and see if it works; the best example of this in the current UK music scene would arguably be The Horrors, who now sound absolutely nothing like how they started out. By all means, if it works, go for it, but at the same time, don’t try too hard.
Then there are bands who try and push themselves forward a little bit at a time. In my opinion, this is the better course of action, and it is this modus operandi that General Fiasco (facebook/twitter) have gone for. The Northern Irish group’s debut album Buildings was one of the most confident and assured debuts to emerge from the scene there in a good few years, and that’s saying something. Lyrics that were often despondent and, in some cases, deeply affecting, were anchored to jubilant hooks and raucous riffs. Even back then, the then-trio were a pop band… but my god, it turns out they were only just getting warmed up.
This may seem an odd thing to say about a band who formed in 2006 and took the guts of four years to release their debut (leaving lots of fantastic songs in demo form – the phrase ‘embarrassment of riches’ doesn’t quite sum it up), but in the year and a half since Buildings surfaced, two important things have happened: firstly, the band have recruited a second guitarist (ex-Panama Kings member Stuart Bell), and this has done wonders for their sound; and secondly, if you thought they were a pop band back then, well, you’re in for surprise – they have embraced instantaneous indie-pop and written what is perhaps their best material to date.
The EP was trailed back in August by The Age That You Start Losing Friends, the second song on Waves, and it could be seen to be about the eighteen or so months that elapsed since we last heard from the band. It remains important for the band not to forget their old friends, but nonetheless Owen Strathern poses the question, directed as much at himself and his bandmates as anyone else, ‘Have we really changed that much to fall so far out of touch?’ The idea of staying true to one’s roots is something that informs this EP, also turning up in the title track’s chorus, contrasting with the idea of moving on to pastures new: ‘I go back like a wave to the shore / I don’t think about you much now anymore / When I said that I wouldn’t go – I’m a wave and I’ll never stay.’
The title track is perhaps the most immediate thing the band have written over the course of their five-year career, and its post-chorus riff might just be the most euphoric moment in the band’s catalogue so far. However, for all its pop sensibility, it doesn’t contain the best hook; that prize goes to the EP’s closer I Wanna Eat Her, an anthemic song that’s driven by Strathern’s confident bassline and Stephen Leacock’s drumming, the latter of which is also a feature of German Roads.
If I wanted to be picky, I would say that German Roads is the weakest song on the EP – it loses out a bit with The Age… and I Wanna Eat Her either side of it – but there really isn’t much to fault Waves for. It’s eleven-and-a-half minutes of a band truly coming into their own. There is a steady stream of material planned for next year: a second EP will follow in the spring, and then the anticipated second album will be out by July at the latest. That’s the plan at least. If this EP is a marker of the quality of the material being saved for 2012, then it could well be General Fiasco’s year.
