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Weird Dreams - Choreography (album)

Crocodiles - Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9) 7”

The Hairs - I’ve Been Working Out 7”

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Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats 7”

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Single/Download Review

Future Of The Left
Polymers Are Forever EP Xtra Mile

Article written by Matt H - Nov 9, 2011

Future of the Lef t- must've got all three darts in the card to win that.

We all loved Mclusky. Future of the Left started moving the sound on straight away. To these ears it was reassuring that on Curses they found room for Ronnie Hazlehurst-style breaks alongside the energy and bleakly unreal humour. Travels… brought yet more light and shade to the mix – establishing them in feel if not entirely in sound as the nearest thing we’ve had in recent years to the Fatima Mansions (which might not impress you, but is about as good as it gets as far as I’m concerned). This new EP moves things on again significantly, but not unrecognisably. The sardonic, subtly satirical bent remains and a thunderous rumble underpins the songs throughout. On the title track Andy Falkous essays something of a Mike Patton-style expansiveness (and if that vocal doesn’t return, Patton’s general ambition to push boundaries and lack of fear of theatricality is something that you’re reminded of throughout) along with a stabbing synth and some genuine pathos in the closing chant. With Apologies to Emily Pankhurst is a more familiar blast along. New Adventures by contrast harshly jaunty, Falkous delivering his impressionistic tales with a bitter twinkle in his eye. My Wife is Unhappy is slinkier with Falkous in sinisterly muted mode over ba-ba-ba backing, something he reproduces on the more driven Dry Hate. And they round it off with detroywhitchurch.com which does everything from Minutemen funky basslines to chiming atmospherics to glowering spoken word inspiration.

We all loved Mclusky, but we’ve still got those records to turn to when we want to. Future of the Left prove we can have so much more. There’s nothing here to lead you to any conclusion other than that they’re simply the finest band we’ve got. And there’ll be a new album in the new year. Joy.

Links:
http://www.futureoftheleft.net/
http://xtramilerecordings.com/
http://www.facebook.com/futureoftheleft