Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
Future of the Left. Travels With Myself and Another . 2009. 4.5 stars .

This is some solid rock n’ roll from this wildly inventive Welsh band. On their second LP, Future of the Left lay down crunchy, distorted riffs and punchy punk rhythms to surreal and often hilarious lyrics about drinking, fighting, mischief, Satan, class warfare and losing out in general. Sounding like a strange mash up of Rage Against the Machine, The Clash and The Sex Pistols, FotL’s quick and dirty songs are heavy, raucous and oddly endearing. Take the regal and adventurous "The Hope that House Built", with it’s bouncy rhythms and call and response vocals, as the clarion call for hopeless causes and drunken abandon. What first appears as feckless admittance soon reveals its subversive undertones, wryly calling attention to attitudes we don’t want to admit to sharing.

The entire album follows this trajectory, with ballsy and catchy tunes full of scrappy melodies and sublime nonsense. The sheer energy of songs like "Land of My Formers", "That Damned Fly" and "Drink Nike" reveal the band’s love for their art, as intensity balances out with intelligent and memorable songwriting. Given their dizzying pace, it will take a few listens to let these songs sink in, but its fun getting caught in the whirlwind.

While it’s painfully short (32 mins), Travels With Myself and Another still packs a mean punch that keeps hitting after repeated listens. If you enter into FotL’s caustic, yet appealing world on their terms, there is much to like on this release. With it’s terse and energetic songwriting, this album will surely find its way among the top releases of the year.

Digg!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 9:24 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.