Travels With Myself And Another was the logical next step for Future Of The Left. After all, the band's members already have a pedigree full of brilliantly abrasive and infectiously ascendant rock music (members were previously in the loud Welsh bands mclusky and Jarcrew), as well as a two year-old debut album in desperate need of a sibling.
Travels is just that. It is the bigger, smarter and better sibling exceeding already high expectations.
Roughly speaking, two types of bands exist in the music industry. One kind of band changes from album to album, surprising the listener with each note played. The other kind sticks to one style of sound and continuously works within a certain arena of music. Future Of The Left lands loudly and happily in the latter camp, much to the delight of fans and critics alike.
Curses, the band's 2007 debut, is nothing to scoff at. It is loud, smart and fun in its own light. The band's chemistry was readily apparent and critics responded in a generally positive way to the effort. Curses did not have the outstanding tracks that Travels brings to the table but its strengths are obvious and there can be no doubt of the linear progression from one album to the other.
That is not to say Future Of The Left never brings anything new to the table. Travels' best track, "You Need Satan More Than He Needs You,” sounds at once classic and innovative. It is incredibly smart and, once the subject matter has been fully digested by the listener, it is surprisingly funny to boot.
The song, which is easily one of the best I've heard this young year, is the story of a couple trying "to hold down a life, an ideology of Satanism, whilst at the same time picking up the kids," said frontman Andrew Falkous in an interview with the-fly.co.uk. The song also details, he said, "wondering about the idea that somebody would have a satanic orgy, but leave, rather than with a sense of blood lust which has been sainted, but with a sense of deeper love for the people involved, you know?"
The song, which might incite a riot, chants: "What kind of orgy leaves a sense of deeper love? You need Satan more than he needs you!"
"The Hope That House Built,” the album's debut single, sounds more like a march toward that very riot. The steady beat and menacing guitars coupled with all-too-appropriate lyrics ("Come join, come join our hopeless cause") never quite reach the violence characteristic of the rest of the album but you hardly notice. This single is the much-needed preamble, the plan for battle. It's a catchy catalyst.
Most of the tracks are one-part aggressive, one-part absurd story, and one-part loud and visceral nonsense. The vocals are precise and perfect. The album on the whole will move you in the most literal sense. The guitar provides the puppet strings, the bass lights the way and the drums provide the pulse.
The biggest disappointment when listening to this record was my discovery that the band's only summer show in the metro area is for Brooklyn's Siren Festival in July. It’s not exactly ideal for the awesomely aggressive chants and dances that their live show must play host to.
But thinking ahead, I can imagine only one scene and smile: Thousands of us within sight of the gutted ruins of Coney Island, a few seconds from a cold ocean, all singing and dancing while the album's finale, "Lapsed Catholics,” roars in the sweltering July air.
The song's steady, gentle acoustic guitar will lull us to sleep and -- wait for it -- fast, distorted guitars inevitably peak out and take over the song. "I can't stand still for the rest of my life!,” the band and audience will chant.
"Arming Eritrea," the album's opener, might just knock the wind out of any audience caught in between a midsummer heat wave and Future Of The Left. The song brings soaring vocals and beautifully sarcastic lyrics to an endlessly searching guitar riff.
"I'm not a cynic or one of those guys!,” they sing. “I'm not a child, I'm not special or one of a kind! I'm not a drunk, I know my own worth! I'm an adult! I'm an adult!"
Travels With Myself And Another is structured as a crescendo rising to an unsurprising heat stroke by the end if you are not careful. But who wants to be careful?
The album is available June 23 on 4AD Records.
Video: "The Hope That House Built"
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