Future of the Left – The Plot Against Common Sense
Catchy, heavy and full to the brim with astute rock songs The Plot Against Common Sense is a victory for the Cardiff noise nicks.
This album has a fire set in its belly. It spews up an abundance of bile right from the start with lead single Sheena Is A T-Shirt Salesman coming in hard and fast and with its sharp wit leaving splinters in your brain. Then before you have time to pick out these shards the piercing squeals that punctuate the synth-bass of Failed Olympic Bid hits your ears. It is the first of a few mad-as-a-circus pop-songs the album cages like Cosmo's Ladder and A Guide To Men which sounds as energetic as Polysics; starting with twinkling keys and then a chunky bassline that bounds in and dares you to dance.
Though not at the centre, Beneath The Waves An Ocean is the heart of the album with Julia Ruzicka distorting her bass, and vocalist falco enunciating every word, his vocals intensifying as the song progresses, ending in a heated sing-a-long "no way you'll ever find peace, you'll ever find peace with the name they gave you. No way you'll ever find peace, you'll ever find peace with the name you've got." It is similar to that which closes Polymers Are Forever, title track of the EP of offcuts that preceded this album, but perhaps more simple.
After Anchor and Robocop 4 - Fuck off Robocop, second single I Am The Least Of Your Problems is the one of their heaviest songs. The video depicts the menacing band playing inside of a man amidst strobe lighting much to his distress, with the drummer in what appears to be a V for Vendetta style Kong mask.
City Of Exploded Children musically sounds like a medieval age tale but it is in fact a tale of our time. This, along with the provocative style of music and lyrics, is what marks this out as a definitive album of the year. It is dry, witty and current: see tracks Sorry Dad, I Was Late For The Riots, Camp Cappuccino and Notes On Achieving Orbit for countless impassioned, humorous and sometimes enraged lines befitting of the times we live in.