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The Futureheads - 'Radio Heart'

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Fraser McAlpine | 11:53 UK time, Tuesday, 13 May 2008

FutureheadsI'm slightly disturbed by the band's insistence that they want a girl with a radio heart. It just all sounds like something out of some horrifying science-fiction movie set in a dystopian future. People made out of offcuts of old household equipment; the girl with the radio heart might sound quite sweet, but what about the man with the eyes made of eggcups? Or the boy with the liver made out of a dishcloth? What must it be like for them, eh? Hellish, probably.

Over-literal silliness aside, this is the kind of wry pop song that not many bands can pull off. You need a good combination of intelligence, charm and wit to make something like this - thankfully, these are qualities that the Futureheads have in spades.

I've made a big deal here before about how I get irritated when a song doesn't go anywhere in its three-or-so minutes, and this has been quite cleverly subverted here: there's a lot of repetition of phrases, both lyrical and melodical, but the song feels like it doesn't have a beginning or an end; a song that's peripatetic, if you like. It wanders, and it may do so in circles, but there's definitely a sense of constant flowing movement, and in all honesty that'll do for me.

There's something wonderfully '80s revival about the RBC (Really Big Chorus) - it's the repetition of a strong, decisive, insistence phrase with the same few chords playing in the background but energised by falsetto harmonies and scuzzy guitars over the top to lend the whole thing a greater sense of urgency. It's manages to be chaotic and calm at the same time, which is pretty clever.

All in all, this is a brilliant, uptempo track which only falls short of the five star mark because it isn't quite as fantastic as 'Skip To The End' was, but that's the only thing that's wrong with it as far as I'm concerned.

Four starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: May 19th

(Steve Perkins)

PS: Here's a nice blog posting from about Barry's version of this song for the Black Cab Sessions.

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