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The Future West - Radio Town EP

  • Written by  Marky Edison

 

The Future West are a fixture on the thriving Dundalk independent scene. Centred around The Spirit Store venue, the border area is churning out quality acts like Seattle in the ‘90s. Following the likes of Accidents In The Workplace, Ae Mak and Richard Richard, Francis Watters and his troupe released their debut album, the fantastically titled, Holy Shit… Here Come The Future West, last year and Radio Town is the three track follow up.

It was recorded in the isolated surroundings of Black Mountain Studios; a place that is becoming as central to the local scene as The Spirit Store itself. Word of mouth is spreading about the studio with Nix Moon, Sonnets And Sisters and Elephant all cutting records there in recent times.

Working at Black Mountain with producer Joseph Edwards has paid off for Watters et al. While last year’s album had a disjointed feel, Radio Town takes the disparate influences that The Future West are trying to capture and focuses them. It gives the EP an overall feel of unpredictability and spontaneity that you would expect from The Flaming Lips or The Butthole Surfers but with a unified sound.

‘Dream Catcher, Mind Snatcher’ sums up the bands “retro psych wave” vision with its Beta Band verses, and a chorus that marries Stoat to The Small Faces and The Jam. The title track serves up some Jefferson Airplane mixed with modern stoner rock (if that’s not a tautology) while ‘Dark Day Dawn’ channels ‘90s Britpop through the dual prism of The Killers and Whipping Boy.

Radio Town is a great leap forward for The Future West. It’s mellow and chilled even as it continually reinvents itself. This is a creative and ambitious record that hopefully translates into an equally powerful live set on this summer’s festival circuit. We’ll be looking out for them.

Radio Town EP is available from bandcamp.

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