The Futureheads

1	Le Garage 1:44
2	Robot 2:00
3	A to B 2:27
4	Decent Days and Nights 2:31
5	Meantime 2:51
6	Alms 2:05
7	Danger of the Water 2:57
8	Carnival Kids 2:44
9	The City Is Here for You to Use 2:35
10	First Day 2:04
11	He Knows 3:14
12	Stupid and Shallow 1:35
13	Trying Not to Think About Time 2:24
14	Hounds of Love 3:02
15	Man Ray 2:17

Barnes & Noble

They're mates with Franz Ferdinand. Former Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill co-produced the album. Designer suits are their onstage attire of choice. But if you think you've got the Futureheads figured out, you're wrong. This foursome from Sunderland, England, definitely operate from their own planet of sound. It's a world where jagged rhythms coexist with doo-wop harmonies on songs about robots and the mundaneness of office life; a sound with no time for disco beats or guitar solos but plenty room for a cover of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love." Barreling through 15 songs in just over a half hour, this eponymous debut is an infectious adrenaline rush that not only stands apart from the current crop of sideways haircuts, but would've also sounded original in 1980. You can easily play spot-the-influence -- a Devo riff here, a Jam riff there -- but you've never heard anything quite like "Stupid and Shallow" or "The City Is Here for You to Use." Trying to describe the Futureheads makes them seem ludicrous and contrived, but there's nothing forced about the skewed pop of "Meantime," "Decent Days and Nights," and "Robot." This is just what they do. The Futureheads are not like us, and thank goodness for that. Bill Pearis

All Music Guide

On their self-titled full-length debut, the Futureheads turn the promise of their early EPs and singles into an almost relentlessly playful, lively, and smart album of zippy post-punk-pop. Even though shades of XTC, the Jam, and Gang of Four (whose Andy Gill produced the album) jump out at almost every turn on Futureheads, the band's chiming, precise vocal harmonies -- which sound more British Invasion than new wave -- give their sound a distinctive kick. And, while they follow in roughly the same footsteps that other post-punk/new wave renovators like their friends Franz Ferdinand, the Futureheads sound too spazzy to be quite that fashionable; likewise, they're bouncy and danceable without being tied into the increasingly tired dance-punk sound. Futureheads includes a few songs from the 123 Nul and First Day EPs, and while the album doesn't exactly suffer from the inclusion of tracks like "Robot," "Carnival Kids," and "First Day," the band's newer work shows how they've already refined and expanded their sound since they wrote these songs. With its slower pace and doo wop-inspired vocal arrangement, "Danger of the Water" finds the group trying on different ideas for size. The breezy "Meantime" and "Trying Not to Think About Time" stretch and snap in all directions, with tight dynamic shifts and wound-up melodies. As distinctive as the Futureheads' sound is, the album's standout track is a cover: their tremendous version of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" captures the breathless buzz of falling in love. It's the perfect combination of the band's thrilling sound and strong, evocative songwriting, a department in which the band's own work can fall a little flat: individually, tracks like "Le Garage," "He Knows," and "Alms" are bracing fun, but they tend to blur together within the album's context. Fortunately, singles like "A to B" and "Decent Days and Nights" and final track "Man Ray" show that the Futureheads can write songs that don't just depend on their emphatic delivery. While a little more depth in their songwriting would make them unstoppable, the Futureheads' first full-length is an undeniably exciting debut that just gets better with repeated listens. Heather Phares

Rolling Stone

The Futureheads reclaim pop punk from the Warped Tour crowd -- and revive it in the process. Barry Walters