News and Tributes
August 11th, 2006
With the possible exception of their out of character remix of Decent Days and Nights, which at least goes into a surprising direction, the sound on the Futureheads latest album, News and Tributes, does nothing to reinforce the band’s choice of name. That’s not to say that they’re not one of the more interesting bands to come out of the umpteenth wave of the British invasion, but it does leave room for some amount of want. Although they seem to keep the energy level at an even keel, I found the album on a whole to be something of a mixed bag.
There’s no denying the brilliantly unrelenting catchiness of Skip to the End, but unfortunately not every song holds the same kind of potency. And such a clever song shouldn’t hold such an ironic meaning.
In the end and as a matter of fact, there are already a handful of bands, such as Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party, who’ve succeeded at stealing style, structure, and the shameless black void that’s left of one’s soul when both attributes are stolen from perennial bands such as The Jam and Gang of Four, only to provide fodder for pop-music snobs such as myself. I swear, the next band from England to come out with an overly influenced sound should be forced to write a 150 page thesis justifying their theft. This British Invasion is arguably the least interesting, but perhaps should be the most gratifying for long forgotten musicians such as The Godfathers, who at least had the decency to start unpacking their stolen merchandise a full fifteen years ahead of the game.
But maybe it’s because I liked those guys so much in my testosterone filled youth, that the new crop still connects to the guitar driven boys club in my head. It may not be a perfect invasion this time around, but it’s had its fair amount of strategic and tactical successes to show for all of the crime that’s taken place along the way.