Electro-rock duo The Big Pink (Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell) release their follow-up to the critically acclaimed fuzzy synth-rock debut A Brief History of Love. Second album Future This – with the title nabbed from a 1980s skateboard advert – sees the band sadly struggling to match the brilliance of their debut.
Alas, there really is nothing amongst these ten tracks to blow your mind and suggest that those “hip hop” influences mentioned in The Big Pink’s recent interviews were nothing but fibs. An invention, misrepresentation, a porky, white lie, whopper. The Big Fib. Therefore if you were expecting this Future This review to say that The Big Pink now sound a bit like Kanye West or Jay-Z, then you are in for a big disappointment. In fact, if you were expecting an album like A Brief History of Love, you also risk being a bit miffed. Bugger!
It is not horrifically awful though. On first listen it’s not too different from their debut and is quite “instant”. For example, album closer 77 is a mournful (and fantastic) electro slowie and 1313 is a good reminder that you should give David Bowie’s wonderful Ashes To Ashes another listen. Hit the Ground (Superman) flies along like a metaphorical bloke in tights, pants, and a big red cape – but unfortunately lacks the power to save the world.
After a few listens you will actually wish that you had Superman’s ability to spin the earth backwards (See the 1978 Superman movie. Ed.) in order to reverse time to prevent yourself from listening to this! Too harsh? Maybe. But Future This is a little formulaic – like Superman III – for this sort of thing to be “the future”. The duo need to go back to their Fortress of Solitude to have a rethink for their next album.
Words by David Huxley
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