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Future Ruins
by
Future Ruins Image
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 18 Ratings

  • Summary: The sixth full-length release for the British alternative rock band is its first with the Dangerbird (and Rock Action in the UK) label.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. PopMatters
    Jan 22, 2019
    80
    Whether or not Future Ruins is the record that finally breaks Swervedriver through to the masses, it shows the band are still making their own breakthroughs.
  2. Under The Radar
    Jan 22, 2019
    80
    Not only is Future Ruins a welcome addition to the Swervedriver canon. It also fully confirms their reunion was anything but a nostalgia trip.
  3. Classic Rock Magazine
    Feb 8, 2019
    80
    For all the grim despondency, this is an album steeped in the acrid stench of beauty. [Mar 2019, p.88]
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  4. Dusted Magazine
    Jan 22, 2019
    80
    None of this is so very different from Swervedriver’s catalog, or indeed from the guitar-crashing dream pop of Adam Franklin’s Bolts of Melody, but it is very fine anyway.
  5. Slant Magazine
    Feb 1, 2019
    80
    The band flips the traditional lexical of their genre, emphasizing the spaces between the anthemic, quasi-pavlovian verse-chorus-verse structure that defines classic rock n’ roll. The band’s sixth album, Future Ruins, similarly thrives in the spaces between the power chords and choruses.
  6. Q Magazine
    Feb 4, 2019
    80
    The second LP of their decade-long comeback is defined by the warm fuzz of Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge's guitars--like a dusty desert sirocco, creating a benign concussed daze. [Mar 2019, p.118]
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  7. Drowned In Sound
    Jan 23, 2019
    60
    Future Ruins progresses at a pleasing rate, though it never really pushes beyond its genre confines. Every track here is solid-to-good-to-occasionally-great with a friendly, familiar vibe of a bygone nature without ever really presenting anything new or challenging.

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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. charliequaker
    Feb 23, 2019
    10
    The 6th album from these legendary U.K. shoegazers jumps into the water with both feet. The first track starts with a heavy rock guitar rumbleThe 6th album from these legendary U.K. shoegazers jumps into the water with both feet. The first track starts with a heavy rock guitar rumble backed by some big drums, then segues to a haunting guitar line before Adam Franklin’s disarming vocals make an entrance. The melody begins swirling in your head with the band’s perfectly measured out level of feedback distortion as sounds roam around your brain with the fluid grace of shifting sands. And that’s just track one! From there on out, it’s pretty much one brilliantly constructed song after another. The fuzz is real; it’s deep, rumbling and shimmering. Aaaah…those guitar chords; just killer, really—the gateway to pure dreamland. There is so much beauty in Swervedriver’s world. The fact that it’s obscured by layers of oscillating wonder only makes the discovery more precious. Sure, there’s a similar feel to most of the songs—that’s their trademark sound. But when you put on the headphones, the subtle differences become both apparent and fascinating. It’s an album that genuinely rewards your close attention. I thought 2015’s “I Wasn’t Born To Lose You” was an incredibly strong return. “Future Ruins” does not suffer by comparison; it may be better. It’s an absolutely gorgeous album that combines muscular, reverberating guitar fuzz with cavernous waves of pure, stunning melodic beauty. Here is a moment you can sink into so deeply, you may never want to come out. Highly Recommended.… Collapse
  2. Muzmarinator
    Jun 18, 2019
    9
    The band step up from their previous comeback effort I Wasn’t Born To Lose You to produce a more focused and energetic album. The guitarsThe band step up from their previous comeback effort I Wasn’t Born To Lose You to produce a more focused and energetic album. The guitars thrill, and the production is spot on. Turn it up loud.… Expand

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