I've been a fan of The Futureheads since a friend lent me a copy of their debut album shortly before that Kate Bush cover sent them towards stardom and became their biggest hit, and somewhat ironically, their most well known song. Since then, success has been few and far between, culminating in their removal from 679 recordings (now "re-branded" as the hypercool "sixsevennine"), but I'm almost pleased. Don't get me wrong, I like them, a lot. But I would hate any Johnny Kooks-lover to pick up a copy of News & Tributes and play it at their local NME-sponsored indie-disco. But, of course, they never would.
Apart from the aforementioned Hounds Of Love, The Futureheads eponymous debut was full of immediate, punky songs that wore their hearts on their sleeves while still being humourous and engaging. About what We Are Scientists are try (and fail) to accomplish in their songs (although WAS win the prize for the funniest mailouts and videos for a bantamweight Indie band). News & Tributes was, the more mature and gentle second album, featured some songs that followed the pop-punk family tree from Fugazi to Fall Out Boy, and unfortunately fewer of the close harmonised post-punk that made their debut so comfortable.
Clearly unable to repeat their original plan, and surely not wanting to repeat their sophmore mediocrity, the Sunderland four-piece went back to their own studio, and promptly plotted their revenge on 679. This Is Not The World is the result.
Opener "The Beginning Of The Twist" shows that through their label drop they haven't skipped a beat - a Futureheads classic in the making, and straight back to what they are good at - Anthemic songs with choruses that make you want to scream along. "Walking Backwards" seems to start as a bastardised version of "A to B" but quickly rises to a chorus all of its own.
By track three, the Jam-esque "Think Tonight", it seems as if they've realised their perfect formula. Take a few parts of their revivalist debut, throw in a few more classic post-punk leanings and then simmer all the parts together for over three minutes. But that's the problem - it seems that they now feel the need to make tracks that you actually start to get bored of. Past the three minute mark and each song starts to wear a bit thin. This is a new problem, as on The Futureheads, none of the songs lasted three minutes, and on News & Tributes not many of the songs were that interesting to begin with.
Take for example, the single "Radio Heart". The title phrase is sung exactly 17 times in the 3 minute course of the song, and the word "Radio" is used a further 6 times. And this is pretty much what every song is like - as if - dare we say it - they've run out of ideas.
However, latest single "This Is Not The World" and "Broke Up The Time" are two songs where the formula almost works to perfection, reminding the humble listener that The Futureheads always sounded a little bit like The Jam, really, and they always repeated their lyrics a lot. Still I can't help but think that a lot of these songs could benefit from being trimmed back by a solid minute.
Ultimately however, the tracks are all of a similar standard, and there isn't a lot to pick out of the crowd, but the result is a solid album that builds on, if only slightly, their previous body of work.
My favourite tracks: "Broke Up The Time", "Sale Of The Century" and "The Beginning Of The Twist"
7/10
This Is Not The World is out now on nul records.
You might also like this live review.
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