The Futureheads

Yes another absurdly literal photo to accompany the post. A long time ago, when Chris and I were still unmolested by the grind of life, we made our way over to Newcastle to interview Ross from the Futureheads. Back in the first half of the 2000s, the "regional" music scene was burgeoning. Singers were not only unabashed to celebrate their provincial origins, they celebrated their idiomatic idiosyncrasies and placed oddly-pronounced vowel sounds at the front of their vocal mixes.

So it's nice to hear again from the Futureheads, a band who have always maintained my respect. Perhaps it's the tribulations they have suffered - over-hyped, lumped in with many lesser bands (dare I say Maximo Park?), dismissed as "post-punk revivalists," dropped by their record label after two albums - along with a sense that there was always more substance to them than angular guitar, frantic hi-hat bashing and the aforementioned accents.

So they return with "Heartbeat Song," which I had been informed contained more than a whiff of the Ramones, but which I found closer to Blink-182. Having said that, I do like it - a sweet crafted piece of radio pop-punk with the pervading flavour of the North-East. The vocal harmonies are as good as ever, the sentiment is delectable and the chords are all in the right places. What's not to like?

The Futureheads - Heartbeat Song