Future of the Left / Polymers Are Forever

Future of the Left
Polymers Are Forever
(Xtra Mile Recordings)
* * * * *

The music biz has tried and failed to destroy Future of the Left on numerous occasions – from file sharing eagles picking at their bones to departing members and panicked record labels running amok in what has, at times, seemed like a vast monkey house.

Yet somehow these addictively evil Welsh rockers keep rising from the grave with even more steely-eyed zombie determination – and it’s no surprise that their first release on Xtra Mile Recordings is defiantly, viciously confident.

The band have always shared with the Pixies the ability to turn outrageous sarcasm into musical adrenalin, and don’t disappoint here; “I’ve got adverts on the back of my hands and I’m singing along – oh no!” sings Falco on ‘Destroywhitchurch.com’, an epic tale of demonic thoughts brewing in suburbia, which comes off like Pulp rewritten by Brett Easton Ellis.

Elsewhere, the charmingly titled ‘Dry Hate’ buzzes along like a razorback pig sniffing out human victims in the middle of the night, while EP standout ‘Emily’ finds the group climbing up the walls with the psychotic energy of the Dead Kennedys.

Throughout the EP, it’s clear there’s only one band capable of filling the hole left behind by Future of the Left. And that’s Future of the Left. Doh.