Demos

Futuro - Keep It Short And Keep It Simple

Mike Mantin 09/08/2006

Rating: 3/5

Scotland's Futuro sound so much like Bloc Party that I'm starting to think the creation of this EP was an ingenious idea by three super-fans to get Kele's autograph in the form of a cease-and-desist letter. In all seriousness, though, they are a promising, probably-soon-to-be-not-unsigned band whose spiky riffs and very tight sound belie the fact their tiny age as a band (they formed this year!). With touches of the Arctic Monkeys and a singer who fulfils the press quotations' promises of sounding like Chris Cornell (you can decide whether that's a good or bad thing for a lightning-fast post-punk band), Futuro seem tailor-made for heavy MTV2 rotation and Zane Lowe worship.

These elements are all well and good but the band stumble to live up to said soundalikes because these songs simply aren't memorable enough. The three tracks here merge into one another seamlessly - after a few plays, you may marvel at the guitar work, maybe tap your feet to the impressive rhythm seciton, but you probably won't be able to remember any of the tunes. Apologies for the endless comparisons, but there's also no big distinguishable feature which propels Futuro past the crowd of indie chancers, like Bloc Party's dark touches or the Monkeys' eye for observation. Though the NME probably don't care, the future Futuro will probably need just a little extra spark to separate them from half the bands in that rag's pages. A better title may be in order, too: this EP may have the most hater-friendly title since Sum 41's 'All Killer No Filler'.

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