The Futureheads News And Tributes Review

No Muse-style supermassive re-invention for The Futureheads second album. Instead News And Tributes finds the Sunderland outfit honing their craft and occasionally stretching it.

If their debut sounded frantic and overly burdened by that gimmicky cover version, here the band let more space into their punkish sound, much to its benefit.

So while "Yes/No" is all snarling aggression and "Return Of The Berserker" is so heavy and metallic it recalls Big Black, much of this record is a gentler look at relationship dysfunction. There's the rather lovely, lyrically intriguing "Fallout", the pleading "Skip To The End" and "Burnt", which borrows the pummelling bass and scratchy guitars of The Breeders to forge The Futureheads finest song yet. The band's trademark harmonies are artfully and charmingly deployed throughout.

There is always the suspicion that The Futureheads' music consists of more perspiration than inspiration, but News And Tributes is rarely less than listenable and compelling.