Skip to the End? A Review of The Futureheads News and Tributes
by Robin Lyon

2.5 Beatles* 

The Futureheads landed on the British and American musical maps with their 2004 self-titled debut. The Futureheads received mass critical praise and introduced the band’s signature sound—a simple, energetic blend of punk, pop, and dance, with unique vocal harmonization, an almost a capella style, leading to comparisons to The Jam, Queen and The Ramones. The album also gave The Futureheads a top ten hit on the British charts, with their skillful and almost irresistible cover of Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love”.

News and Tributes, the band’s second album, is a solid follow up, with a calmer and wider-ranging sound. While sticking to the same general style and occasionally bizarre writing style, The Futureheads have moved away from the constant energy of their debut in favor of including more intimate and varied songs. Songs like “Thursday”, and “Burnt”, while still solid and reflective of the general Futureheads style we’ve become accustomed to, wind up lacking something, and the extra time and silence allow some of the band’s weaknesses to show through. Choruses are still catchy and well harmonized, while verses lag behind unexcitingly. While the album does show artistic range and a willingness to expand their style, it also leaves behind some of the most appealing aspects of the band’s sound—their energetic, rhythmic melodies, and sharply orchestrated vocals.

It’s on “Favours for Favours”, “News and Tributes”, “Fallout”, and the more energetic moments of “Face”, that the band finds a nice balance between the non-stop energy of their first album and the calmer, intimate, and more varied moments of this one. The songs reach a satisfying median that moves from the punky feel of their first album toward a more finely crafted, almost new wave sound. It’s a great sound that leaves you wishing they’d been able to hone it a little bit better and keep it consistent throughout.

The album’s highlights are “Skip to the End” (the album’s first single), “Back to the Sea”, “Cope”, and “We Cannot Lose”. They are solidly crafted, catchy and energetic. Unfortunately, it’s still the song they didn’t write that shows the band at its stylistic, expressive, and musical best. Their cover of “Hounds of Love” shows off an incredible talent for arrangement, and demonstrates the uniqueness and appeal of their sound perfectly.

News and Tributes is a fine second album and proves again that The Futureheads are a unique band with a great sound and a lot of talent. The only frustrating thing about the album is a lack of consistency, and knowledge of how perfect it could have been.

*Editors Note: To score albums or concert performances, LostWriters has adopted the Beatle System. The number of “Beatles” an artist receives correlates to the number of Beatles that would show up at a party hosted by the artist in question. The ratings are as follows:

1 Beatle: Ringo will come to your party because, hell, Ringo will go anywhere he’s actually invited. If an artist gets the dreaded “Half-Beatle,” Ringo will still show up to the party, but he’ll have sex with the lead singer’s spouse and possibly his or her children.
2 Beatles: Ringo will persuade Paul to join him at the band’s party by reminding Paul of the incriminating photos he still has from Paul's “I just want to dress like a wee girl phase.” If an artist receives 1.5 beatles, Paul will not be able to attend, but he will send a lovely fruit basket and several photos of himself. (Additional fees required for autographed photos.)
3 Beatles: Not only will Ringo and Paul come, but George Harrison will use his mystical powers to reincarnate himself from the dead just to attend this artist’s fete. If an artist receives 2.5 Beatles, George won’t be able to make it, but he’ll telepathically contact Ravi Shanker and ask him to go in his stead. For an extra fee, Ravi can teach the entire band how to play the sitar.
4 Beatles: You get the full quartet. This rating is reserved for works of true artistic genius, because it means Yoko has to let John out of that attic she’s been keeping him in all these years, and he’s going to be pretty surprised to find out there wasn’t a nuclear holocaust. If an artist receives 3.5 Beatles, Yoko will send Sean Lennon and two kilos of blow instead.

June 24, 2006