Tonight is a cold wet night in Birmingham,
It doesn’t feel like winter but more of
a cold april but across town the festivities are
starting with the Christmas lights being switched
on, meaning that getting anywhere in Birmingham
is a pain in the arse, but over in Digbeth we
have some lights of our own, they may not be a
magnitude of colours but the few bulbs that are
lighting up the stage at the temple are enough
to illuminate tonight’s band…
Future Of The Left, are a band from sunny South
Wales, they were born out of noise rock band Mclusky
when they split in 2005, they’ve gone on
to have cult status, and have slowly picked up
more momentum on the way with the release of 4
studio albums with the latest “How To Stop
Your Brain In An Accident” being released
a few weeks ago after a pledge music campaign
which saw them reach they’re target in just
6 hours. They’re now playing to a bustling
room of around 300 people tonight all eager to
see and hear this unique band play and I’m
sure the next time they come around they’ll
be playing bigger venues. But that’s enough
about the band, this is a live review not a biography.
They band slowly come out from the darkness onto
the dimly lit stage and stand there in silence,
the start the almost haunting tones of the intro
to Arming Eritea before singer Falco screams into
the lyrics “Come on Rick, I’m not
a prize, I’m not a cynic or one of those
guys” and the tone changes to fast dirty
punk rock, with grungy noisy overtones. The drums
click in the background before smashing into the
high hats over the pacey scales of the guitar
and slimy bass. The sound is unique, it’s
beautiful its Future Of The Left.
They wrap up the song and burst straight into
Small Bones Small Bodies a song that plods along
with the occasional harmonie and guitar solo before
building up to the final crescendo of instruments
and chants of “Grow into your body happily”.
They continue with a track of their latest album
Bread, Cheese, Bow and Arrow which is so grimy
and dirty it sends shivers through you as its
screeches along. They continue to play a mixture
of all 4 albums including Future Child Embarrassment
Matrix, Beneath The Waves An Ocean, Manchasm and
You Need Satan More Than He Needs You. In between
songs Falco occasionally talks to the crowd about
what the next song is about, spouting little rants
and jokes with the crowd that if you were to walk
in not knowing what was happening you might think
it was a political rally, as Future Of The Left
is a band that likes what they like and they dislike
all this bravado and fakery that surrounds most
bands and life in general. They pause for a moment
and they blast into a Mclusky cover of To Hell
With Good Intentions that is sped up and brings
the room crashing down around everyone as Falco
screams “My love is bigger than your love,
we take more drugs than a touring funk band”,
they continue their onslaught with How To Spot
A Record Company, Robocop 4 – Fuck Off Robocop
which sounds more like a math rock song than anything
else in the set but it’s this unpredictability
which makes Future Of The Left stand out. The
gig descends into madness with the drummer coming
into the crowd and bringing along a peperoni as
a drum stick, the crowd all gather round and the
band continue to play the rest of the set with
everyone getting back onstage, they wrap things
up with; I Don’t Know What You Ketamine(But
I Think I Love You), Things to Say to Friendly
Policement, adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood, going
into a final medly of Lapsed Catholics Mclusky’s
Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues and all being tied
together with some tones of whams Club Tropicana,
the room explodes and everyone leaves on a high.
Future Of The Left are one of the best bands around,
they’re unique, they’re wonderful
and they’ll rock you to pieces. So check
them out on their remaining dates on this tour
or when they come back next year as you’ll
love it, no matter if you love rock, punk grunge
or metal there’s something here for everyone.
Future Of The Left
5/5
Review By James Daly
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