Future of the Left, Japandroids (Event Over)
Future of the Left || Listen || Watch
Future Of The Left rock, and they do so in a peculiarly British way. The Welsh trio have guitars that rock like a massive chunk of granite bouncing on your head for a half hour, while the drums skitter along like a three year old demolishing their first kit. Yet beneath the sheer visceral pleasure of the music lies a beating heart, quivering in defiance against a modern world that would replace it with a modem. Sure, like ‘Curses’ a lot of the lyrics on this album can be regarded as throwaway. Falkous admits that he makes most of them up on the spot when recording, insisting that they don’t really mean anything. However the beauty of rock often lies in its idiocy – Iggy Pop ain’t got no diploma, and neither does Chuck Berry. ‘Throwing Bricks At Trains’ could well be a political treatise on a bloodless coup, or it could be some kids play-acting. The point being that amid a cavern of drums and wires such meanings blur, and the simplest things become profound. “The bricks they are just sad reminders of former glories,” Falkous sings, partly disgusted with the modern world yet also mourning his childhood. Always on this album there is a self-mocking strain, a hint within their voices that genuine passion within rock music will also be misinterpreted. Sure, I could just list my favourite tracks and say how they make me feel packing in my job and running away to the Outer Hebrides, but that wouldn’t really do the album justice. ‘Travels With Myself And Another’ contains enough visceral thrills to keep the biggest noise addict happy, but the songs hint at much more than that. Grappling with the dilemma of defining the modern British male, it never quite finds an answer yet never shies away from the problem, leaving questions that linger for hours, or days. Of course there is a simpler way to enjoy this album – just buy a copy, and PLAY IT FUCKING LOUD. - Clash Magazine
With: Japandroids || Listen
8:30pm / $12 / 21+
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