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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
the futureheads are on pile driving good form, 26 May 2008
The spirit of New Wave is alive on this new Futureheads album. While the music has that jagged post-punk edge its motors along fueled by the energy and enthusiasm of 1978 - 1980. Like the Jam, Give Em' Enough Rope era Clash, early Undertones, the Ruts and the Skids? You'll love this! The band keep the pace up song after song, but just as it might all get a bit much they open out their sound for the second half of the album, starting with getting over a relationship song Hard to Bear. The lyrics here are basic, but as Barry Hyde sings them you realise what those bands of 30 years ago were missing - a decent tyneside accent. The Futureheads seem to chosen to put the best songs on the album towards the end. Broke Up The Time pumps furiously like a long distance runner finding their second wind as they catch sight of the finish line. The melodic rush of See What You Want To See finishes the album on triumphant form and must surely be a future single.
The Futureheads have proved that their old label were fools to drop them. But never mind that. With this album they show how good a band they can be.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply magnificent, 28 July 2008
Even those who've given this 4 stars do it a huge disservice. It may not be identical to previous lp's (since when's that been a bad thing?) but it's unmistakably Futureheads. This time though, they're more majestic and anthemic. The choruses are simply huge. I don't agree with a previous reviewer who laments the disappearance of the trademark harmonies. Total nonsense. They're still there alright, but this time they're working with each other more, rather than against each other, making for a sound that is greater than the sum of it's parts and careers along at feral pace while delivering classic and addictive hooks. Their style is unique and the quality of the songs, musicianship and vocals is better than anything else it is mistakenly compared to by other reviewers here. So how anyone can say they've heard this all before is beyond me (unless you're referencing Real By Reel by XTC). The title track is probably the most rousingly glorious song I've ever heard.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
We've never met but we've never been apart, 3 Jun 2008
The Futureheads were energetic and infectious in their first album. Their second... not so much. It was more serious and downbeat, and just not as endearing.
So honestly I had no idea what "This is Not The World" would sound like, and whether they would return to Album No. 1's sound, or stick to their guns now that they have their own label. Well, the Futureheads don't take us anywhere new, but their raucously energetic third album strikes a solid balance between their two sounds, with perhaps a greater reliance on their older wildness.
It kicks off with a whirling riff and solid drums, morphing into a driving, tightly-wound post-punk powerpop number. "It's time to wake up/It's time to change," Barry Hyde calls out over the energetic music. "Let's get it started/I feel like there's so much to rearrange!"
But the song takes a slightly more ominous turn soon after that, though the energetic melody doesn't slow down at all. "If memory serves/Then why am I still waiting for it to return?/My head feels like it's just about to slip..." Hyde rambles on. Sounds like somebody's going a little nuts in this song -- sounds like that is the "twist" that is felt and concealed.
They lose a tiny bit of momentum after that, but there's still plenty of that smashing, urgent energy in "Walking Backgrounds," and the driving powerpop of "Think Tonight" ("You will never find anyone to come along and take you by surprise/Because you've had too much to think tonight!"). And they have plenty in the songs that follow -- the tightly-wound powerpop of the title track, a blazing dark-edged rock'n'roll number, muscular riff-fests, angular fuzzy explosions of sound. That wild energy gets even more intense as they roar on to the ending of the album, and it leaves you a bit breathless.
Well, the album isn't quite perfect, alas -- "Hard To Bear" lives up to its name, being both too uneven and emo for my taste, especially with those odd country-rock moments. And "Radio Heart" tries to have post-punk's speed and energy and a ballad's poignancy, but achieves neither.
For the record: "This is Not The World" does not really take the Futureheads anywhere new, musically speaking. This album basically sticks to what the Futureheads have done best in the past, particularly in their first album -- wild, energetic powerpop with lots of rough-edged, catchy melodies and solid instrumentation. It's a bit more polished, with a few new twists to their music, but not radically different.
As for what it sounds like -- rough-edged, fun, dancey and loaded with solid hooks. These guy have a good handle on intertwining their instrumentation, and even the slower songs are nimble and solid -- driving riffs and blasts of fuzzy, powerful bass, backed by the beat of thumping drums. All three get tightly wound together like a rope, and blast by with the power of a smallish train -- but the Futureheads allow individual band members to shine occasionally. A razor-edged solo here, a growly bassline there.
And personally I think it sounds like Barry Hyde is having fun here -- he has a muscular laddish style, and yowls dramatically over the music as if daring the instruments to drown him out. His peppy demeanor is a bit of a contrast to what he's actually singing, since a bleak undertone runs through some of the lyrics ("Sometimes it feels like we are stabbing in the dark with nothing to say/But when the lights go out, see no hear no speak no evil").
And there are still some sweeter moments woven in there, usually related to love ("So I guess I've got nothing to lose at this request/I want a girl who doesn't like to dress to impress/A girl with a radio heart...") Okay, I didn't like the song overall, but the lyrics are adorable.
"This is Not The World" is pretty much what you'd expect from a Futureheads album -- fast-moving punky powerpop with a danceable edge. It adds nothing new to their sound, but it rarely disappoints either.
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