- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Alternative PressStop pretending that Morrissey is still relevant, that the Libertines are actually good and that you understand Radiohead. The Futureheads will give you everything you need, if you just let them. [Dec 2004, p.144]
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The reason The Futureheads is so good is because, quite simply, the music is simply stunning.
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This band is so exciting it’s almost unbearable.
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Phenomenal, with nary a bum track.
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FilterThe urgency of the music and the quality vocal and guitar hooks make this one of the best rock albums of the year. [#13, p.98]
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The Futureheads rely on actual chops and the kind of melodic astuteness usually associated with piano-pop balladeers, and in doing so, they exhibit complete control over their music and intertwining vocal deliveries.
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Entertainment WeeklyWisely keeps things short, sharp and shocked. [19 Nov 2004, p.85]
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SpinThey add enough kinks to the old herky-jerk formulae to make their half-hour in the sun blaze by like nobody's business. [Dec 2004, p.124]
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There's that Ramones sense that songs should be short like life, and that XTC sense that songs should be complicated like life.
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It begins to sink in that this band has performed a theoretical feat of Hawking proportions: it has devised a fool-proof formula for the unformulaic.
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Q MagazineAn exuberant debut. [Aug 2004, p.110]
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New Musical Express (NME)A sparkly, concise art-rock delight. [10 Jul 2004, p.47]
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A punchy and exciting debut.
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UrbExplores the previously uncharted territory where shouty alt.rock meets a cappella vocals and skinny-tied new-wave melody. [Nov 2004, p.99]
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Sounding like a lost classic from Britain's 1979 art-punk scene, the Futureheads' debut is an assured masterpiece of twitchy, nervous pop.
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Think Polyrock or Chairs Missing-era Wire in terms of the stripped-down elementalism of the instrumentation, but think Ikara Colt in terms of delivery.
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A confident, rampant holler that bristles with the energies of prime new wave, the proselytising vigour of the most barnstorming white soul, and the wry, cerebral kickback of most of the artier artists of the last thirty years.
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It's positively dizzying during the first few listens, but once listeners start to differentiate between each song, this album's sly pop rock genius is obvious.
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The Futureheads reclaim pop punk from the Warped Tour crowd -- and revive it in the process.
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While a little more depth in their songwriting would make them unstoppable, the Futureheads' first full-length is an undeniably exciting debut that just gets better with repeated listens.
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The group's edgy, fast-paced New Wave 2K brand of rock recalls the sharp, nerdy delivery of XTC, the impassioned focus of the Jam and ping-ponging hooks reminiscent of the Vapors.
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Neither the songs’ structures nor their lyrics offer rich rewards after close listening and dissection.
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BlenderThe proceedings get a little bit samey, but the band's fearless optimism and knack for a bookish groove are hard to deny. [Dec 2004, p.140]
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Under The RadarAs all sugar-highs go, this can leave you a bit lightheaded before it's over. [#8, p.109]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 49 out of 58
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Mixed: 7 out of 58
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Negative: 2 out of 58
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Oct 3, 2019
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DalePJul 23, 2007Honestly can't see what the all the fuss is about.
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GarrisonSJul 17, 2007