future kings of spain - 5 track sampler
1. face i know
2. meanest sound
3. venetian blinds
4. simple fact
5. traps
following the excellent one tracker as described elsewhere i tracked down this sampler with more examples of what this irish trio are capable of. admitedly opening track 'face i know' is still the real deal and keeping up that kind of intensity over a whole lp would be very difficult and probably too exhausting for the listener.
what these tracks do show is that there is a variety to the bands approach to their well oiled machine, the excellent sound owes an obvious debt to guitar underground sounds from america (aswell as being produced by girls against boys folks) - but stays away from grunge/nu-metal genre and instead goes into the unfashionable subculture of alt college rock - the sort that fort apache studios were the forerunners in the early-mid 90's.
the band are far far better off because of it .. we have more of the overdriven guitars and punishing basslines but with a more controlled atmosphere in the form of 'meanest sound' which also has a middle section that is instantly memorable, this is even more so with the doubled up vocals - a nice touch for anyone who tries these tracks on headphones.
'venetian blinds' and 'simple fact' are much more mellow with a laid back tempo. on these tracks there is a strong presence of ash's quieter moments. having said that i personally feel that tim wheelers vocals are always painfully exposed on ash's slower tracks, whereas here the vocals are suited well and carry the song without any pain.
final track 'traps' has a nice keef richards type of opening riff. and carries a nice groove over 5 mins with another killer chorus/melody. an excellent track.
these 5 tracks show a band that knows how to get guitar based rock sounding fresh and vibrant once more.
long live the new kings.