Amazon.co.uk Review
The second album from Sunderlands The Futureheads,
News And Tributes is the sound of a band not only brave enough to toss away a fistful of their trump cards, but sharp enough to slip a few fresh ones from their sleeve. Where their joyfully guileless debut rattled along on breathless four-part harmonies and breakneck new-wave hooks a la Elvis Costello or The Jam, here we find The Futureheads injecting their structure with a fresh sense of space and a newly wistful, reflective melodic edge. In true post-punk fashion, Fallout and Burnt tackle love und romance without resorting to cliché, the former a harmony-laden break-up/make-up number tinted with Cold War paranoia, the latter an arch, propulsive construction reminiscent of art-punks Wire that compares falling in love to sustaining third-degree burns. Occasional dark sentiments aside, however,
News And Tributes remains a beautifully crafted, melodically memorable rock record. Apart, that is, from "Return Of The Berserker"--a cacophonous mid-album rampage that sees The Futureheads turning amps up to 11 and dipping the dials into the red, seemingly just to show they still can.--
Louis Pattison
CD Description
'News And Tributes' is the second album from north-east post punks The Futureheads. Recorded in under two weeks on a farm in deepest Yorkshire, this album showcases yet again their unique take on acts such as XTC and Wire, with frantic call-and-response vocals combining with a breakneck punkish energy that is rarely bettered by their peers. Includes the single 'Skip To The End'.