Future of the Left – Last Night I Saved Her From Vampires
McClusky’s demise was a sad day for me and critics murmuring about inconsistency, shambolic live performances and insulting behaviour toward fans simply didn’t wash. The fact that record sales for their three fine albums barely enabled them to keep going was bloody criminal. The music press should have hailed and supported Wales finest as heroes. Anyway enough of the past. Future of the Left are here now, better than McClusky and deserving of wholehearted support from both the British music press and music loving public.
I saw the band live three times last year and was blown away by the sheer energy and guts of both the material and the sound. The thundering basslines of Kelson Mathias, pounding rhythmic genius of Jack Eggleston on drums and the spitting sarcasm and riffage of Andy Falkous had me grabbing my own testicles and surging forward to the mosh pit shouting f yeah, (felt great but in fact generated looks of both derision and maybe a little pity from younger members of the crowd).
This tour saw the recording of a couple of the shows which were made available for sale only on the US leg of the tour. Lucky for us the illustrious 4AD agreed to release this document of the brutal force of a FOTL show and I can’t stress enough what a good thing it is that they have.
I have to first say that there is, as with all gigs involving Andy Falkous, a lot of inter-song banter on this, probably about 15 minutes worth but the efficiency with which Andy Falkous verbally despatches both other bands, (including the support) and hecklers makes you wonder if he could make money doing stand up on the side. With a whacking 19 tracks on the album + the banter this really is worth every single paltry penny.
The material is a mixture from Curses and some new stuff from their forthcoming album which only heightens my anticipation for that release. The mix is rough and ready but pretty much replicates what you got if you were there and from opener, ‘The best laid plans’ through crowd favourites like ‘Manchasm’ and ‘Small bones, small bodies’ every song packs a hell of a punch.
I think FOTL are just about the best live rock band in the UK at the moment, so my advice is to put your hand in your pocket and buy this if you have any liking for live independent rock music. Even if you hated McClusky, (you heathens), or didn’t get round to ‘Curses’ give this a chance.
By way of a tribute to Mr Falkous, ‘if you think it’s shite, you can F off’