Summer doesn’t feel right without Welsh rock group FUTURE OF THE LEFT dropping by to tear local ears off with their jagged distortion and fascinating tales of sociopaths. DARRAGH MURRAY quizzes ANDY ‘FALCO’ FALKOUS about the band’s forthcoming record.

Interviewing Future Of The Left’s Andy ‘Falco’ Falkous is a dream gig. Falco’s witty, erudite and engaging demeanour makes for a special and often educational experience. It seems difficult to catch the ex-Mclusky frontman on a bad day, and his fondness for a self-deprecating turn of phrase is immediately obvious when I dare to ask what he’s been doing of late.

“On a personal level, looking for a fucking job! With my CV, that’s a real pain in the arse, ‘cause the gaps in my CV generally happen to somebody who’s been on tour for a long time as a roadie for Motörhead ... or has been in prison,” he states emphatically. “On another level, trying to actually finish this album.”

I’ve caught Falco the night before the band is due to complete their third full-length record, The Plot Against Common Sense. While Future Of The Left are set to tour Australia before the record’s release in January, Falco explains that the delay in getting album finished and released was unavoidable.

“We’ve been so excited about this record; I mean we’ve known we’ve had something special on our hands for a while, but it’s been frustrating having that just beyond our reach now for the last month or so. [After it’s finished], I’m going to have two days of injecting a series of lagers directly into my eyes in order to recuperate from the experience.

“It would have been perfect to have the new album finished, or rather released, before we came out. That was the original idea, but different delays, some of which were our own fault … it just wasn’t possible.”

“I’m going to have two days of injecting a series of lagers directly into my eyes in order to recuperate from the experience.”

However, the band have released a six-track EP as a teaser for eager fans: Polymers Are Forever, which features a number of demos and a title-track that also appears on the forthcoming LP. Our conversation turns towards the amusing story behind one of the more interesting tracks on the EP, the curiously titled Destroywhitchurch.com.

“It’s really bizarre. We were driving through Cardiff and saw this sign, which said ‘destroywhitchurch.com’ – Whitchurch is an area of Cardiff. It sounds like it’s going to be the web hub of an anarchist organisation.

“It turns out that conversely destroywhitchurch is about saving English language schools in the Whitchurch area. So it’s not actually about destroying Whitchurch at all. The website is concerned with what it sees as the destruction of traditional Whitchurch.”

After a few shows in the UK, Australia is the first stop on a wider tour, Falco revealing a number of special surprises.

“Pretty much getting on to half the live set is going to be new songs, there’s going to be old songs, and a couple of Supergrass and Metallica covers,” Falco says jokingly. “Oz first – it will be a delight and it will also be a chance to get some sun on our pasty fucking skin.”

FUTURE OF THE LEFT return to The Zoo on Tuesday Dec 6, supported by Tape/Off and Turnpike. The POLYMERS ARE FOREVER EP is out now through Remote Control/Inertia. www.futureoftheleft.net 

Comments (1)

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*