Sire / London/Rhino
2004
The Futureheads
About This Album
On their self-titled full-length debut, the Futureheads turn the promise of their early EPs and singles into an almost relentlessly playful, lively, and smart album of zippy post-punk-pop. Even though shades of XTC, the Jam, and Gang of Four (whose Andy Gill produced the album) jump out at almost every turn on Futureheads, the band's chiming, precise vocal harmonies -- which sound more British Invasion than new wave -- give their sound a distinctive kick. And, while they follow in roughly the same footsteps that other post-punk/new wave renovators like their friends Franz Ferdinand, the Futureheads sound too spazzy to be quite that fashionable; likewise, they're bouncy and danceable without being tied into the increasingly tired dance-punk sound. Futureheads includes a few songs from the 123 Nul and First Day EPs, and while the album doesn't exactly suffer from the inclusion of tracks like "Robot," "Carnival Kids," and "First Day," the band's newer work shows how they've already refined and expanded their sound since they wrote these songs. With its slower pace and doo wop-inspired vocal arrangement, "Danger of the Water" finds the group trying on different ideas for size.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,6,7,9,10,11,12 and 15)

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