Travels With Myself and Another is the new collection of 12 songs from Future of the Left, the follow up to their acclaimed debut Curses. Having never heard Curses I am diving into this album with full ignorance of FOTL’s past.
The album opens with Arming Eritrea, a song that has instantly got me wanting to hear more of this record. The song starts off very Stoogesesque with a very garage sound to it, it then builds into a lovely melodic chorus, a musical oxymoron that really sounds refreshing.
FOTL are definitely an experimental band, if you listen to the song The Hope That House Built you can hear something that sounds like a parade march. A stark contrast to the first two tracks, showcasing this band’s diversity. Each song has a sense of humour to it, the music and lyrics are fun and it’s very refreshing to hear a band that doesn’t take itself so seriously.
Tracks like Land of My Formers sound like a more harmonic Sex Pistols, this band really does have something for everyone. They could attract a very wide range of fans due to this; fans that could learn to appreciate the other songs, a very smart move on their behalf.
I feel this band is at risk of being categorized as indie but they are very far from this, I’ve never heard an indie band with music as assorted as this. It is very funky and easy to dance too, whereas you can also sit, listen and appreciate it. I’m genuinely enjoying this album and think it’s as clever as it is charming, I really think this could catch on.
Jonathan Teggert