The Futureheads – in session at XFM -July 21, 2010 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection – The Futureheads in session at XFM on July 21, 2010, to get you ready for the coming week.
The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, consisting of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar), David “Jaff” Craig (bass guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums). Their name comes from the title of The Flaming Lips album Hit to Death in the Future Head. The band’s influences include new wave and post-punk bands such as Gang of Four, Devo, XTC, Wire and Fugazi.
The Futureheads played their first gig at Ashbrooke Cricket and Rugby Club in December 2000. They debuted with their “Nul Book Standard” EP and then their “123 Nul EP” on 10 March 2003, and later that year released their first single, “First Day”, on 4 August. “First Day” peaked at No. 58 in the UK Singles Chart in August 2003.[4]
The Futureheads released their self-titled debut album in September 2004 on 679 recordings. Five tracks of the tracks were produced by Andy Gill of Gang of Four. The rest of the album was produced by Paul Epworth. The song “Decent Days and Nights” from the album was featured in the video game soundtrack to Burnout 3 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox as well as EA’s Rugby 2005.
On 21 February 2005, “Hounds of Love”, a cover of a Kate Bush song, was released as a single. It reached number eight in the UK Singles Chart in its first week, and was named Best Single of 2005 by NME. The band toured the United States and later supported the Pixies, Foo Fighters and Snow Patrol.
They performed at BBC Radio One’s One Big Weekend, held in their home town of Sunderland over the weekend of 7–8 May 2005. On 8 May 2005 Sunderland A.F.C. picked up the Championship trophy. In tribute, the Futureheads performed a set live at the Stadium of Light as pre-match entertainment.
The Futureheads released their fifth full-length album, Rant, on 2 April 2012. In a change from their usual style, this album is entirely a cappella. The songs on the album are all covers consisting of classic Futureheads songs and traditional folk songs with a couple of others thrown in. Rant was nominated for the Artrocker Album of the Year award in 2012.
In a 2015 interview on BBC Radio 6 Music, Dave Hyde said that The Futureheads are no longer a working band, with both his brother Barry and Jaff teaching; Barry Hyde was also working on a “piano based” solo album. However, the band got together to record a health awareness video using their song Heartbeat Song for BUPA which was released in April 2016.
In January 2019, the band announced they had reformed, had written and recorded new material during 2018, and their first tour dates since 2013. On June 5th, they released “Jekyll”, the lead single from their first album in seven years, Powers, to release on August 30th.
To get you up to speed, check out this session they did for XFM in 2010.
