News and Tributes - The Futureheads
So here it is, the second album from The Futureheads. 6 years since forming, 12 record releases, 5 UK tours, 4 US tours, 3 top 20 singles and 250,000 debut albums sold worldwide, where did it all begin? After meeting at the Sunderland City Detatched Youth Project, a lottery funded music scheme for getting kids off the street, Barry, Ross, Jaff and Pete (the then drummer) played their first gig at Ashbrooke Cricket Club in 2000. The departure of Pete (Brewis, now a member of Field Music) led to the conscription of Barry’s younger brother Dave. He boldly tried his hand at drumming and now, 6 years on, can cite Dave Grohl as one of his admirers. It doesn’t get much better than that.
2004-5 proved to be an explosive, character-building year for The Futureheads. After supporting Franz Ferdinand in the States (Sept ‘04) they went on to tour America twice in early ‘05 before playing the main stage at last years Coachella festival. Their single, “Hounds of Love” went Top 10 in the UK, earning the title “Track of the Year 2005″ by NME and “#5 Single of 2005″ on Pitchfork.
The new record, News and Tributes (Vagrant/StarTime International), is the by-product of six weeks locked in a Scarborough studio with producer Ben Hillier (Depeche Mode, Doves, Blur). The first single to be taken from News and Tributes is “Skip To The End”. As with much of the LP, it’s brash, bold, and extremely catchy. Their use of four part harmonies has been expanded upon throughout the album, with lead vocals once again shared by Barry and Ross. The pace has slowed and the songwriting matured but the unique sounds and edgy-ness displayed on their debut are still paramount. “Our first album was made by giddy teenage boys but this one has been made by big strong men,” says Barry.
