Future Of The Left - How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident

Good news people! I submitted this to an upcoming streetpress magazine and they liked it! The bad news is that they only want reviews of Melbourne bands. That's pretty cool however.

Anyway on to the review!

The end of 2013 sees Welsh band Future Of The Left returning once more with the release of their fourth studio album, 'How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident'. After what some consider a lacklustre album that preceded it, it's good to say that the band is back to fine form with this hard hitting release of obscene noise rock.

One of the great things about this album, and maybe of Future Of The Left in general, is that they keep their music interesting. The band isn't afraid to mess around with a few styles in order to stop an album from going stale - the album starting off to heavy riffs, unpredictable vocals and a thunderous finish with the track 'Bread, Cheese, Bow and Arrow', - after this, however, the second track conveys a vastly different sound - both catchy and a little bit poppy with zero trace of the thump and distortion of the previous track. It's these kind of curve-balls that keep the album interesting, and beyond this we get more tracks that mimic the musical styles of metal, folk, post-grunge and even finishing on a blues track.

The other thing that the band does right is that lead singer Andy Falkous goes the extra mile in order to separate himself from the other vocalists. He's not afraid to get weird with the delivery of his already weird lyrics, screams of 'Her cock is so hard', Elvis style warbles of 'He was good with his hands' amongst many other obscenities are dotted all over the album, and might make it a little hard for the conventional listener to enjoy. However, he has his serious moments too, a particularly good lyric from 'French Lessons' goes along the lines of saying 'You could kid yourself that your dreams amount to more than counting backwards from four' as if to attack a perceived feigning of ambition in those who really only look forward to the weekend.

I can't say that I think this album is for everyone. At times it's abrasive, confronting and noisy - but for those of us who took the time to appreciate those louder, weirder and ultimately more unique albums, this is an absolute gem for the noise-rock/post hardcore enthusiast and a solid middle finger to most of the conventional rock that dominates the pop music market today.

Give this a spin if you're into At The Drive-In, The Men, or Shellac.
Do not give this a spin if you are elderly, easily offended, or listen to Nickelback.

Johnny Borell Afterlife - second track off the album. 

See what I mean about the weird but poppy sound? Great track.