Review of Upcoming Future of the Left Album Travels with Myself and Another

If rock 'n' roll has lost anything in the past fifty years it is its sense of danger, its rebellious nature, its gritty, rugged mystique, and its ability to piss off. What was once a fringe genre - a sound affiliated with youth culture and opposed to the establishment - has merely become a commodified sound that can be found in every aspect of our lives. Future of the Left are a band that seem uncomfortable with this notion of rock complacency. Their snarling, brutish, spitting, crunchy take on rock is a direct attack on all those who have spent years making rock comfortable, familiar, and wholesome. And if you thought their first album, 2007's Curses, did its best to make rock raucous again, you haven't heard anything yet.

Real quick recap: two-thirds of Future of the Left is made up of members from brash rock outfit Mclusky. Yes, the two bands share a similar vibe - it would be impossible not to with singer Andy Falkous still hanging out behind the mic with his melodic venom and snarky shouts - but Future of the Left push things forward, adding screechy synth lines, harmonized vocals, and rhythmic twists Mclusky just seemed unwilling to attempt. Travels With Myself and Another is yet another progressive step for the Welsh trio, demonstrating new songwriting techniques and even catchier choruses without losing that crazed and forceful approach. Oh, and did I mention this band is also hilarious? Cause they are.

Things may seem a bit different when opening track "Arming Eritrea" opens with a clean country-flavored guitar lick, but it isn't long before the crunchy, crackling distortion kicks in and we get Falkous's signature shout over a simple drum beat. It is the chorus that surprises here, with its thick cadence - courtesy of a beefy synth line - this is more massive than anything Future of the Left have attempted before, and surprising... dare I say it? Pop. After one listen, you'll want to sing, er... shout along to this track.

With "Chin Music" we see this formula at work again as the chorus threatens to explode with powerful urgency. "The Hope that House Built" and "Throwing Bricks at Trains" go for more of the experimental bent, with the former playing out like a violent, sarcastic ompah and the latter using a buzzing loop of static as the main instrumentation and merely building on this skeletal structure with "ahh ahh ahh" backing vocals and a steady drum beat.

"I am Civil Service" and "Land of My Formers" touch on classic Mcluksy tropes by applying screeching guitar riffs to fuzzy bass lines. Even these dabble in new territory though with Falkous ditching his soapbox-rant vocals for bellowing melodicism, almost as if he is mocking opera singers in the process. This technique comes up again later on songs like "That Damned Fly" and "Drink Nike."

Some of the most divergent songs come in the second half of the album with "You Need Satan More Than He Needs You" combining a dark digital stomp that recalls Nine Inch Nails, and "Stand By Your Manatee" playing out like the sort of vintage garage rock that Art Brut has made a career off of. "Yin/Post Yin" and "Lapsed Catholics" are the most experimental however. The first has a middle-eastern piano line and choppy moog grooving throughout the song, while the album's closer starts with an acoustic guitar and a spoken word bit before launching into a poppy synth-punk verse.

Future of the Left continue their assault on rock convention with big riffing, vicious vocals, and hard-hitting rhythm. Yet, they also manage to toy with electronics, unforgettable melodies, and interesting musical turns. It is these choices that keep at the forefront of indie rock, a band well worth watching, as well as hearing.