Future Kings Of Spain - 'Future Kings Of Spain' (Red Flag)
3/5
By: Thomas Hannan
So, Future Kings Of Spain, you're being cocky enough to present us with a challenge for your first record? Well, good on you. Just a shame that it doesn't sound quite that challenging yet, but we'll wait. As will become clear, this is testing, but not because it's particularly unconventional or eccentric... The career of FKOS requires close attention starting from now, as this could be the beginning of a tale that may well get rather gritty as it unfolds.
Excellent icebreaker 'A Place For Everything', with its Fugazi impersonation, gives the impression that this debut record is about to be quite an uncompromising sprawl of angular noise. It's followed by 'Your Starlight', a distortion-ridden but distinctly more tuneful side to the Future Kings Of Spain, reminiscent of more recent Trail of Dead. You then form a hypothesis - is this record going to be a ride through the styles of all your favourite alternative guitar bands one by one? When 'Venetian Blinds', the next stop on the journey starts to sound exactly like 'Pinkerton'-era Weezer, your theory gains some more weight. Up next, Pavement...
Obviously, this young Irish trio are taking their cues from some of the finest talent the rock world has to offer, and very good at running with it they are, too. But as admirable as this is, does it mean they're bereft of their own ideas? Well, not exactly. The individual intellect in the band lies more in the subtleties of melody and production that are shadowed by the instantly noticeable influences, a face of the band that takes a touch longer to reveal itself. At first, yes, a whole host of bands such as the aforementioned spring to mind, and it'd be all too easy to paste a 'pretenders to the throne' sign across these self-proclaimed Future Kings. Yet eventually, once each song is allowed to sink in on its own merits, the thought of another band performing the songs becomes increasingly bizarre.
Far from its noisy beginnings, it takes a turn for a place sign-posted 'melody' rather quickly. By the time 'Meanest Sound' kicks off the second half of the album, you're a bit taken aback that they'd profess to make anything of the sort. However, it's never lacking in conviction and punch, and does regain some backbone and urgency with the dark and jittery contortions of 'Face I Know'.
Future Kings Of Spain aren't thus far the finished article, but show all the signs that they could be. So far, although very few qualms can be had about any of it, it's still relatively easy to find all too obvious reference-points. What's letting them down at the minute is a very select assortment of songwriting angles from which to launch an attack, along with a stringent loyalty to just a single dynamic - if the guitars aren't being heartily strummed on ten, give it a couple of seconds and they will be (see the penultimate 'Traps' for evidence of just that).
'Future Kings Of Spain' requires patience, a virtue of the record that will either frustrate or intrigue those who find themselves with it in their hands. Our advice is to be persistent. After all, it's easy to forget that music you can understand entirely on first listen is, by in large, not worth a minute of anyone's time. Although you may think you've cottoned on to their game at once, surprising delight can be found in picking at the pieces.
Artists in this article: Future Kings Of Spain
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