Future of the Left - Fingers Become Thumbs / The Lord Hates a Coward (Too Pure)
3/5
By: Chris O'Toole
To those in the know, their former incarnations were the saviours of rock music. Jarcrew and especially Mclusky offered razor sharp one line witticisms at cost prices, served on a bed of explosive, muscular rock. Sharp enough to be scary, both bands imploded and sent shrapnel flying in all directions, leaving only an electrifying legacy. And whilst some would suffer from the weight of expectation created by this firestorm reputation, Future of the Left are having none of it, coming out swinging with the bit between their teeth yet carefully controlled aggression you would expect.
Whilst Shooting at Unarmed Men were first out of the Mclusky camp to recover and release, it was always Andrew Falkous who was perceived as the driving force of the former band, and this reputation appears vindicated here. While SAUM continued in similar veins, their efforts are somewhat sloppy, lacking the focus and driving force of Future of the Left. In contrast Falkous here leads his new band in a slightly new direction, as both tracks offer a little more space in which for the musicians to move and venturing dangerous close to melody in places, away from the raw building blocks of former incarnations. The same smug remakes and sharp guitar, owing a debt to Big Black, are presented here again, but in a slightly more conventional style. This is not to detract though, as both singles attack the senses, bludgeon the emotions and tickle the intellect.
There are weaknesses though, principally the bass lines, which are hopefully plucked and more reliant on presence than structure. They lack the dynamic intricacy one would expect and don't offer the necessary counterpoint to the guitar and drums, leading to a more relentless sound. This means, at points, the tracks lack shape, plugging away, and not hand breaking turning into oncoming traffic on the M25 as hoped. Again the lyrics are not as volatile, coming close to a chorus in 'The Lord Hates a Coward', where Falkous repeats "Violence solved everything" until it turns to dust.
These are high quality tracks, but Mclusky was the sum of its parts. Divided into two, albeit uneven, parts both have attributes of the former band, but neither captures the frightening control or dynamic aggression of their former embodiment. Nonetheless, Future of the Left are sure to produce a blistering album, and are ones to watch.
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