Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update .. loads of great new music as always inc trx fm Coach Party, Dead Pony, KNEECAP & more. If you like what you hear please follow and share this playlist, it helps us keep doing our thing by getting the algorithms on our side. Also please support the artists featured in any way you can!
Until next week
Helen (Futureproof) x
Vehicle – You Are Not A Cowboy
Leeds-based Vehicle have shared the upbeat Americana-infused rock n’ roll track You Are Not A Cowboy – a wry tongue-in-cheek tune built on a solid foundation of early Rolling Stones-esque rhythm and blues and the sound of The Brian Jonestown Massacre at their retro-leaning peak. The band’s Michael Cable sings elusively about current cultural waves, maintaining their distinct grasp of highbrow curiosity and direct hookiness. Cable says the track enacts an alternate reality where The Fall’s irascible frontman pilfered the essence of this type of ‘60s music – the perfect contrast for what he describes as an “insular country fanatic casting suspicion on the rising trend of Americana in alternative rock”.
My First Time – Picture Of Health
Bristol punks My First Time are back with their energetic new single Picture Of Health which tells the story of a fictional character who lives vicariously via online fitness and financial gurus, drifting through each day in pursuit of the next short-lived rush. “I’ve parted seas and I’ve smoked cigarettes, I’ve travelled a thousand miles just to make love in your bed. I’m a picture of health,” lead singer Isaac Stroud-Allen snarls on the chorus. The track kicks off with crashing drums, snarling, heavy-set bass and scuzzy electronic riffs. “We played it live a lot before we went into the studio. It helped us learn more about the song,” Stroud-Allen reflects. “It had so much time to breathe. It’s pretty explosive off the back, so it’s a bit of a vibe checker.”
Mandy, Indiana – Cursive
Mandy, Indiana take “a step into the unknown” on hectic new single Cursive, taken from their upcoming album Urgh. The techno track follows on from lead single Magazine – which the four-piece first shared back in November – and kicks off with intense percussion. Vocalist Valentine Caulfield then enters the fray, singing over hectic interlocking rhythms as the song continues to drive forward without ever letting up. Synth player Simon Catling states that the track was a collaborate effort: “It was exciting having everyone bring their own ideas to the table from the off, throwing them together and seeing what could come out of it — a bit of a step into the unknown for us as a band.”
Pool Kids – Easier Said Than Done
Introspection is a driving force behind Pool Kids’ Easier Said Than Done, the third album from Florida-based quartet Pool Kids. The title track drags us into an obsessive mind at war with itself. There is an irony in the upbeat chords that carry singer-songwriter Christine Goodwyne’s sing-song melodies. She admits with a slight drawl, “I told you I know how to have fun / If only I could let go / It’s easier said than done”, and we hear her frustration grow from quiet pleas to rallying wails. There is a refreshing honesty told in the lives personified across the album and, in the world of each song, no story is off-limits.
Coach Party – Nurse Depression
Alt-rock quartet Coach Party hit hard with the track Nurse Depression, ahead of an extensive UK tour and playing with the legendary Indochine in France this March. The band explained about their new album to Ones to Watch: “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves with the first album; there was a sense of “don’t go & fuck this up, now.” So maybe we were a bit more careful & reserved during the whole process. With Caramel, however, we felt a lot more free & comfortable to say & do whatever felt right at the time, and from the feedback we’ve had so far it seems like that has translated as a more raw & honest piece of work, which is what we strive for.”
Robber Robber – The Sound It Made
After having their apartment condemned following a fire, Robber Robber‘s Nina Cates & Zack James let the circumstances of this upheaval fuel disjointed streams of consciousness that would ultimately shape Two Wheels Move The Soul, their new album (out April 3). The result is jagged and unsettling, “cooked and over the top,” as Cates puts it. On lead single The Sound It Made, Cates wades through catastrophe by patching together memories and journal entries from this period of turbulence, which she calls a “collection collage.” Restless drums entwine with nonchalant vocals until each element collapses under its own weight, a scorching indictment of feeling powerless to omnipresent forces. According to Cates, the benefit of writing lyrics and coming back to them later is identifying patterns in something she thought was otherwise disjointed.
Tooth – The Age of Innocence
London Band Tooth have shared their powerful debut single The Age of Innocence and vocalist Tom Pollock says: “It was written almost as an epilogue for my adolescence. I was almost 18 and could feel this restless and confused teenage chapter of my life slowly coming to a close. I realised how clueless I was as a teenager, but also how much fun I’d had. I think the lyrics reflect that duality and fondly reminisce on a period of life that can’t be experienced again. I think, for all of us, this song felt like the start and the end of something indefinable.” The track’s driven by fast strumming guitar lines and a thumping rhythm that colours its soundscape, together bringing a musical palette brimming with urgency.
Anna Calvi – God’s Lonely Man (ft. Iggy Pop)
Anna Calvi has officially shared plans to release a new EP Is This All There Is?, on 20th March – a project of collaborations for which she’s joined forces with Iggy Pop, Perfume Genius, Laurie Anderson and Matt Berninger. The first of a trio of records, this EP promises to introduce the series’ themes of identity, metamorphosis, and the self – existential concepts which have preoccupied Calvi since becoming a parent. God’s Lonely Man pulses with daring defiance, furious guitars alongside galvanising drums, standing as a rallying cry against emotional inertia and hopelessness. Of working with punk icon Iggy Pop, Calvi noted that he is “disruptive, raw, and honest – a singular force,” explaining that “his presence was so perfect for the narrative of this song.”
Dead Pony – Eat My Dust!
Glasgow based rock band Dead Pony have shared new single Eat My Dust! and it’s described by guitarist Blair Crichton as being “written about moving on from negative things in your past, bettering yourself and letting the haters choke on your dust cloud as you pass them.” He adds, “We had fun leaning into heavier influences on this song, the drums and guitar have a metalcore vibe to them which is something we want to explore more in the future. We’ve been through quite a transformational period over the last year and this felt like the perfect mission statement to come out with after some time away from releasing music.” Musically, the band are unapologetically nodding to the early 2000s. The DNA of Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and that whole era where heavy music was allowed to be emotional, messy, and massive, runs straight through the track.
KNEECAP – Liars Tale
KNEECAP have returned with their furious new single Liars Tale taking a shot at “scumbag” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The intense, harsh rave-punk track is the lead single from their forthcoming album FENIAN. The accompanying music video is equally phenomenal, a harsh, gritty, greyscale representation of the state of the world at the moment. The trio state: “With how intense and insane this year was we managed to regroup (during a witch hunt and trumped up terrorism charges) to put together an album we are all fucking delighted with … Inspired by, and proudly named FENIAN, who were warriors in Irish folklore, and later a derogatory term for the Irish. Now we’re using it to name everyone speaking truth to power.”
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