Where next for the class of 2003?
After being dropped by their record label, few would have predicted the astonishing return of Geordie punk funk types The Futureheads. “This Is Not The World”, released on their own Nul Records, is raging, snarling, pop beast featuring the groups barely disguised glee at their own resurrection.
Live, the group are spread across the stage like four Davy Crocketts, facing down the barrel of record industry doubt with a smile on their face. Whilst lyrically the group are thoughtful, at times even maudlin, the band’s harmonies remain one of the most gloriously uplifting sounds in British music.
Beginning with “Decent Days And Nights” The Futureheads steam through one of the most underrated back catalogues in indie music, including a few choice nuggets from easily overlooked second album “News And Tributes”. With the instantly memorable “The Beginning Of The Twist” greeted with an explosion of pint glasses and frantic dancing, it seems that there may well be egg on the faces of those know nothing record label bosses.
The biggest cheer is reserved, typically, for “Hounds Of Love” and those festival-favourite harmonies. One of the survivors from the great wave of bands influenced by the late seventies punk funk scene, The Futureheads bandwagon has no intentions of stopping, even if they are forced to drive it themselves – but then, for a band with such a clear independent spirit, isn’t that rather appropriate?
