Ahhhh the difficult second album!
Following the success of their immensely popular self titled debut album, The Futureheads worked on putting together a second, which was eagerly anticipated by many a indie fan. Would the second attempt hold as much charm and energy as the first? Would it show as much promise?
When 'News And Tributes' finally came out in the summer of 2006, the fans were split.
Compared to 'The Futureheads', the Sunderland group's second album retains many aspects of their signature sound, in terms of the raw energy and jumpy harmonic spells spread over post punk melodies. However, it is evident throughout that a more matured and darkened attitude was present when creating the tracks, which gives a weight and depth to the themes involved.
For example, 'News And Tributes' title track acts as a eulogy to the Munich Air Disaster of 1958 and it's victims, which already suggests themes of loss and pain running through what many expected to be a youthful sounding collection.
Tracks such as 'Cope', 'Burnt' and album closer 'Face' do stand out as being relatively dark when held against the band's earlier work. This tends to be due to the bitter toned lyrics, and more angst sounding guitar work within. One track that stands out as seeming particularly morbid is 'Thursday'; sounding like one of the more sullen pieces from The Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds', and telling tales of regret, "You should feel like it's all ok, but everyday feels like a Thursday!".
However, there remains a splattering of nods to The Futureheads' sound that the fans fell in love with. Such as album opener 'Yes/No', 'Favours For Favours', 'The Return Of The Berserker' and stand out single 'Skip To The End', acting as the 'Hounds Of Love' of this second attempt. Another key song here is 'Worry About It Later' which depicts the band's opinions on the modern day attitudes towards sex, perhaps hinting at the group's cheeky, youthful approach that was ever present in their debut.
Unfortunately, this difficult second album didn't grab the attention of many of the band's fans, and as a result The Futureheads were dropped from their then label. In many respects, 'News And Tributes' doesn't exactly carry the power and punch of 'The Futureheads', but upon closer inspection, does hold a unique darkness that only The Futureheads could pull off. The mature stance also shows the world just how serious the band are, not only in music, but also in escaping any pigeon- holing that took place around the reception of their debut. Where 'The Futureheads' set the indie scene, 'News And Tributes' was merely the nudge to mature the scene, and allow it to grow in more alternative directions; the result of which can be seen in many bands today.
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