Future of the Left
Encyclopedia
Future of the Left are an alternative rock
group based in Cardiff
, Wales
.
, alongside singer/bassist Kelson Mathias, formerly of the Ammanford-based group Jarcrew
. The band previously featured Hywel Evans, who has since gone on to start a math rock
band, Truckers of Husk - he was also a former member of Jarcrew towards the end of Jarcrew's tenure (Evans is also credited as a writer on Fingers Become Thumbs' B-side, The Fibre Provider). The band formed in mid-2005 after both mclusky and Jarcrew split up within two months of each other at the beginning of the year - this was due to tensions within both bands. The band was signed to Too Pure
who had also signed Mclusky, however the umbrella company Beggars Group
disbanded Too Pure, transferring the band to 4AD
.
at Clwb Ifor Bach
, Cardiff
on 2 July 2006. They used the alias the Mooks of Passim to avoid the concert being attended by large numbers of expectant mclusky and Jarcrew fans. Further secret gigs occurred with the band using aliases such as Guerilla Press and Dead Redneck. The first official headline show (and the first show the band played under the name Future of the Left) was played in Camden
Barfly
to a capacity crowd on 1 September 2006 (it was also the only show of the tour - which hit Southampton
, Bath, Brighton
and the band's hometown of Cardiff - to sell out; the Cardiff show was inexplicably ill-attended, possibly why Andrew Falkous later went on to call it "[their] worst show so far" in a MySpace blog entry).
' Winnebago Deal
on 10 May. However, Falco stated that it would only happen "over [his] dead body". The song was released as a 7" single on 4 June 2007, however it was not split with Winnebago Deal
, or anyone for that matter; the B-side was a BBC Radio Wales session track entitled "March Of The Coupon Saints". On 10 September, the band released Small Bones Small Bodies as a single on 7" vinyl (with The Big Wide O - a former MySpace demo - and I Need To Know How To Kill A Cat as B-sides).
, was released on 24 September 2007 in the UK and 1 October in Japan. A surprise to some fans of Jarcrew and mclusky was the band's occasional move towards songs with a synthesizer, namely a Roland Juno-60
, in favour of Falco's guitar - this has been met with mixed reactions both live and on record, but reviews and discussions on the band's messageboard have, on the whole, been extremely positive (including some lucrative - and favourable - coverage from the NME, who have been surprisingly complimentary about the group when considering their apathy towards the members' prior groups). On 8 August 2007, Too Pure released a podcast
of Falco discussing Curses - as well as his opinion on a number of other topics - with Radio Wales DJ Huw Stevens.http://www.toopure.com/listen/
at London Astoria
.
On 8 April 2008, their fourth single "Manchasm" was released (with album track "Suddenly It's A Folk Song" and new recording "Sum Of All Parts" as B-sides), receiving a single of the week recommendation from the NME
. The band toured extensively during 2008, and even surprised audiences in Australia with a cover of signature mclusky track Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues - the performance was recorded and a video appeared on YouTube
shortly afterwards. They appeared at the Reading and Leeds Festival
s on the NME
/BBC Radio 1
stage on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23 August. The band then toured in the United States
with Against Me!
and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
till the end of October 2008.
On 21 November 2008, Future Of The Left cancelled the remainder of their tour of the UK, China and Australia to concentrate on recording the new album. In a statement the band said,
They released their second album Travels with Myself and Another
on 22 June 2009. However, the album was leaked a month before onto the internet, singer Falkous mentioned his anger at this in a series of blogs. Regardless the album received critical acclaim from reviewers, gaining 9/10 from Drowned in Sound
and 8/10 from Pitchfork Media
.
On the same day, in a separate blog, Andy Falkous announced that Steven Hodson (the bass player of Oceansize
and Kong) would be filling-in on bass for their upcoming shows and also that the band had a "soon-to-revealed fourth member, whose main role(s) in the band are to play guitar and act like a fucking maniac."
The band played summer dates around the UK and were also working on new material for a third album, playing a few new tracks at these dates. The band have also been playing mclusky songs more regularly, including "To Hell with Good Intentions", "Collagen Rock" and "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues" from the album Mclusky Do Dallas
; videos of this can be seen on Youtube.
Julia Ruzicka, ex-member and co-founder of Million Dead
made her live debut with the band on 17 September and confirmation of her permanent role was made via the band's Myspace blog on 21 October.
On 6 November 2010 Falco announced, via the band's Twitter
feed that they were in the studio recording new songs. In January 2011 in an interview with Undercover.fm he announced that the new album will be released possibly in September.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
group based in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Beginnings
Future of the Left were formed by singer/guitarist Andy "Falco" Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone, both previously of Cardiff band mcluskyMclusky
Mclusky , originally known as Best, were a three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff, Wales. The group consisted of Englishman Andy "Falco" Falkous from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Jonathan Chapple and Jack Egglestone , who replaced previous drummer Matthew Harding in late...
, alongside singer/bassist Kelson Mathias, formerly of the Ammanford-based group Jarcrew
Jarcrew
Jarcrew was a five-piece progressive rock band from Ammanford, Wales. They were a relatively well known underground band for approximately five years between 2000 and their early 2005 split...
. The band previously featured Hywel Evans, who has since gone on to start a math rock
Math rock
Math rock is a rhythmically complex guitar-based style of experimental rock that emerged in the 1980s and that was very influenced by progressive rock like King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage...
band, Truckers of Husk - he was also a former member of Jarcrew towards the end of Jarcrew's tenure (Evans is also credited as a writer on Fingers Become Thumbs' B-side, The Fibre Provider). The band formed in mid-2005 after both mclusky and Jarcrew split up within two months of each other at the beginning of the year - this was due to tensions within both bands. The band was signed to Too Pure
Too Pure
Too Pure is a London-based independent record label that was formed in 1990 by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox.-History:Too Pure started off as a small experimental label and had built their reputation by releasing primarily alternative/independent music which they felt was being ignored by the major...
who had also signed Mclusky, however the umbrella company Beggars Group
Beggars Group
Beggars Group is a British record company that owns or distributes several other labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, and XL Recordings...
disbanded Too Pure, transferring the band to 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
.
First performance
Future of the Left played their first concertConcert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
at Clwb Ifor Bach
Clwb Ifor Bach
Clwb Ifor Bach is a Cardiff nightclub, music venue, Welsh-language club and community centre. It is known to the Cardiff Welsh-speaking community as Clwb and is often known by others on the Cardiff music scene as The Welsh Club....
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
on 2 July 2006. They used the alias the Mooks of Passim to avoid the concert being attended by large numbers of expectant mclusky and Jarcrew fans. Further secret gigs occurred with the band using aliases such as Guerilla Press and Dead Redneck. The first official headline show (and the first show the band played under the name Future of the Left) was played in Camden
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
Barfly
Barfly (club)
Barfly is a chain of live music venues nightclubs in the UK operating as part of the MAMA Group. It has venues in Brighton, London & York. They regularly feature live music. Their club nights tend to feature rock, alternative and independent music...
to a capacity crowd on 1 September 2006 (it was also the only show of the tour - which hit Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, Bath, Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
and the band's hometown of Cardiff - to sell out; the Cardiff show was inexplicably ill-attended, possibly why Andrew Falkous later went on to call it "[their] worst show so far" in a MySpace blog entry).
Singles
The band released their debut single, the double A-side "Fingers Become Thumbs/The Lord Hates A Coward" (along with B-side The Fibre Provider) on 7" vinyl on 29 January 2007 in extremely limited quantities. A Too Pure newsletter sent out in March announced that the Future of the Left live set-closer "adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood..." would feature on a split 7" alongside Fierce Panda RecordsFierce Panda Records
Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass...
' Winnebago Deal
Winnebago Deal
Winnebago Deal are a rock music band from Oxford, United Kingdom. They started life in the late 1990s at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, with Ben Perrier and Ben Thomas writing songs then recruiting a drummer and bass player through an ad...
on 10 May. However, Falco stated that it would only happen "over [his] dead body". The song was released as a 7" single on 4 June 2007, however it was not split with Winnebago Deal
Winnebago Deal
Winnebago Deal are a rock music band from Oxford, United Kingdom. They started life in the late 1990s at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, with Ben Perrier and Ben Thomas writing songs then recruiting a drummer and bass player through an ad...
, or anyone for that matter; the B-side was a BBC Radio Wales session track entitled "March Of The Coupon Saints". On 10 September, the band released Small Bones Small Bodies as a single on 7" vinyl (with The Big Wide O - a former MySpace demo - and I Need To Know How To Kill A Cat as B-sides).
Debut album
Their debut album, CursesCurses (Future of the Left album)
Curses is the debut release of Welsh band Future of the Left, released by Too Pure in 2007.-Track listing:# "The Lord Hates a Coward" – 3:34# "Plague of Onces" – 3:03# "Fingers Become Thumbs" – 1:50# "Manchasm" – 3:54...
, was released on 24 September 2007 in the UK and 1 October in Japan. A surprise to some fans of Jarcrew and mclusky was the band's occasional move towards songs with a synthesizer, namely a Roland Juno-60
Roland Juno-60
The Roland Juno-60 is a popular analogue 61-key polyphonic synthesizer produced by Roland Corporation in the early 1980s and a successor to the slightly earlier Juno-6. Like its predecessor, the Juno-60 has some digital enhancements, used only for clocking the oscillators and for saving and loading...
, in favour of Falco's guitar - this has been met with mixed reactions both live and on record, but reviews and discussions on the band's messageboard have, on the whole, been extremely positive (including some lucrative - and favourable - coverage from the NME, who have been surprisingly complimentary about the group when considering their apathy towards the members' prior groups). On 8 August 2007, Too Pure released a podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
of Falco discussing Curses - as well as his opinion on a number of other topics - with Radio Wales DJ Huw Stevens.http://www.toopure.com/listen/
Travels With Myself And Another
Falkous revealed in an early 2008 online blog entry that work had commenced on the second album - new material began to creep into the band's live performances, including a number of songs that feature distinctively more ambitious use of Falkous' synthesizer. The band's bolstered profile with the NME led to the group being invited onto the bill of the NME Awards tour, supporting Les Savy FavLes Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav is a New York City indie rock band. Their style is influenced by art rock and post-hardcore. The group is known for the stage presence of lead singer Tim Harrington...
at London Astoria
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
.
On 8 April 2008, their fourth single "Manchasm" was released (with album track "Suddenly It's A Folk Song" and new recording "Sum Of All Parts" as B-sides), receiving a single of the week recommendation from the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
. The band toured extensively during 2008, and even surprised audiences in Australia with a cover of signature mclusky track Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues - the performance was recorded and a video appeared on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
shortly afterwards. They appeared at the Reading and Leeds Festival
Leeds Festival
Leeds Festival may refer to:*Reading and Leeds Festivals , a rock music festival in Leeds , West Yorkshire, England*Leeds Festival , European classical music festival in Leeds...
s on the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
/BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
stage on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23 August. The band then toured in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with Against Me!
Against Me!
Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida and relocated to Gainesville, Florida in 1999. Their first full-length album, released on No Idea Records in 2002, was Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose. They have released music on Misanthrope Records, Crasshole Records,...
and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are an American rock band formed in 1999 in Washington, D.C. and currently recording for Matador Records. They have released six full-length studio albums and have toured internationally...
till the end of October 2008.
On 21 November 2008, Future Of The Left cancelled the remainder of their tour of the UK, China and Australia to concentrate on recording the new album. In a statement the band said,
We have been unable to write the second record and we are increasingly aware of the need to do so. We want to get it out before summer so we can spend next year playing it to people. It is against everything the band stands for to pull shows, or anything that we have already committed to doing, and we apologise to everyone who had bought a ticket or was going to come along. We will be back as soon as we can next year and we promise to make it worth the wait.
They released their second album Travels with Myself and Another
Travels with Myself and Another
-Background:Around summer 2008, the band started performing new tracks such as "Drink Nike" and "The Hope That House Built" at live shows. An additional 3 new songs were captured on the live album Last Night I Saved Her from...
on 22 June 2009. However, the album was leaked a month before onto the internet, singer Falkous mentioned his anger at this in a series of blogs. Regardless the album received critical acclaim from reviewers, gaining 9/10 from Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
and 8/10 from Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
.
2010
On 7 May 2010, Kelson Mathias announced his departure from the band via a blog on the band's MySpace profile.On the same day, in a separate blog, Andy Falkous announced that Steven Hodson (the bass player of Oceansize
Oceansize
Oceansize were a British rock band, formed in Manchester, England on 19th October 1998. The band consisted of Mike Vennart , Steve Durose , Richard "Gambler" Ingram , Mark Heron and Jon Ellis for the majority of its career, with Steve Hodson replacing Ellis on bass in 2006...
and Kong) would be filling-in on bass for their upcoming shows and also that the band had a "soon-to-revealed fourth member, whose main role(s) in the band are to play guitar and act like a fucking maniac."
The band played summer dates around the UK and were also working on new material for a third album, playing a few new tracks at these dates. The band have also been playing mclusky songs more regularly, including "To Hell with Good Intentions", "Collagen Rock" and "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues" from the album Mclusky Do Dallas
Mclusky Do Dallas
Online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed Mclusky Do Dallas at number 94 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000sOnline music magazine Coke Machine Glow placed Mclusky Do Dallas at number 15 on their top 100 Albums of the 2000's.-Track listing:...
; videos of this can be seen on Youtube.
Julia Ruzicka, ex-member and co-founder of Million Dead
Million Dead
Million Dead were a hardcore punk band from London, UK, active between 2001 and 2005.-History:The band was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, after both came to London from Australia. They were joined by Ben Dawson, who had worked with Dean in a record shop in the city...
made her live debut with the band on 17 September and confirmation of her permanent role was made via the band's Myspace blog on 21 October.
On 6 November 2010 Falco announced, via the band's Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
feed that they were in the studio recording new songs. In January 2011 in an interview with Undercover.fm he announced that the new album will be released possibly in September.
The Plot Against Common Sense
In November 2011, Falco announced via the band's blog that the new album had been completed, was entitled The Plot Against Common Sense and comprised 15 tracks.Current
- Andy "Falco" Falkous - Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards (2005-)
- Jack Egglestone - Drums (2005-)
- Jimmy Watkins - Guitar/Vocals (2010-)
- Julia Ruzicka - Bass/Vocals/Keyboards (2010-)
Former
- Steven Hodson - Live Bass/Vocals/Keyboards (2010)
- Kelson Mathias - Bass/Vocals/Keyboards (2005–2010)
- Hywel Evans - Guitar (2005)
Albums
- CursesCurses (Future of the Left album)Curses is the debut release of Welsh band Future of the Left, released by Too Pure in 2007.-Track listing:# "The Lord Hates a Coward" – 3:34# "Plague of Onces" – 3:03# "Fingers Become Thumbs" – 1:50# "Manchasm" – 3:54...
(24 September 2007) - Travels with Myself and AnotherTravels with Myself and Another-Background:Around summer 2008, the band started performing new tracks such as "Drink Nike" and "The Hope That House Built" at live shows. An additional 3 new songs were captured on the live album Last Night I Saved Her from...
(22 June 2009) - The Plot Against Common Sense (2012)
Singles and EP's
- "Fingers Become Thumbs" / "The Lord Hates a Coward" (29 January 2007)
- "adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood" (4 June 2007)
- "Small Bones Small Bodies" (10 September 2007) #25 UK Indie
- "Manchasm" (8 April 2008)
- "The Hope That House Built" (16 March 2009)
- ""Stand By Your Manatee" / "Preoccupation Therapy"
- Polymers Are Forever (EP, 14 November 2011)
Compilation albums
- "Small Bones Small Bodies" - 2000 Trees - Cider Smiles Vol.1" , Hide and Seek Records, June 2008