The Futureheads have been around for some time, having been formed in 2000 in Sunderland. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar), David “Jaff” Craig (bass guitar) and David Hyde (drums). They have had some chart success over the years, with five of their twelve singles making the UK Top 40 – “Hound of Love” peaked at number 8 in 2005 and was named NME single of the year.
The band fit into the category of post-punk with a sprinkling of Indie for good measure. They list their influences as classic post-punk acts like Gang Of Four, Wire and Fugazi. Their last release before 2019 was back in 2013 but this year has seen something of a comeback for them. They released “Jekyll” earlier this year and now we have “Good Night Out / Listen Little Man”, all of which are from their upcoming album.
The band are “stepping out of their comfort zone” for this latest single and lead singer Ross Millard said he subscribes to “the thing Bowie said about how an artist should be slightly out of their depth because that’s when you get the good stuff”. In theory this is absolutely right but the question is whether this latest release lives up to this – the simple answer is yes.
I have to confess to not being a lover of the last couple of studio albums from The Futureheads but the material they have released this year shows they have grown up and there is more to the band than we have perhaps seen before.
“Good Night Out” is my favourite of the two tracks released, it is an upbeat number that has a real Indie vibe to it. It’s a song with some attitude and I can easily see fans chanting the chorus back to the band towards the end of lively gig. I do think this is a song that could increase their following from cult to a more mainstream Indie audience. The song has more depth than most of the band’s previous releases.
“Listen Little Man” is a little bit of a throwback to previous material and will appeal to their hardcore fans – it is understandable that they still want to throw in some tracks on the new album that will keep their faithful fans happy but for me the future is very much the style of “Good Night Out” and is where the band are more likely to head.
This is something of a second time around for The Futureheads. Whilst I don’t necessarily see a repeat of the chart success for them, I suspect this isn’t and was probably never their aim anyway. What I do think they can do is grow their audience and continue to play live music in decent sized music venues, as well as increasing their album sales and streaming numbers at the same time.
Reviewer - John Fish
on - 24/7/19
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