Track Listing

1. Yes/No
2. Cope
3. Fallout
4. Skip To The End
5. Burnt
6. News And Tributes
7. Return Of The Berserker
8. Back To The Sea
9. Worry About It Later
10. Favours For Favours
11. Thursday
12. Face

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13542 in Music
• Released on: 2006-05-29
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
The second album from Sunderland’s The Futureheads, News And Tributes is the sound of a band not only brave enough to toss away a fistful of their trump cards, but sharp enough to slip a few fresh ones from their sleeve. Where their joyfully guileless debut rattled along on breathless four-part harmonies and breakneck new-wave hooks a la Elvis Costello or The Jam, here we find The Futureheads injecting their structure with a fresh sense of space and a newly wistful, reflective melodic edge. In true post-punk fashion, ‘Fallout’ and ‘Burnt’ tackle love und romance without resorting to cliché, the former a harmony-laden break-up/make-up number tinted with Cold War paranoia, the latter an arch, propulsive construction reminiscent of art-punks Wire that compares falling in love to sustaining third-degree burns. Occasional dark sentiments aside, however, News And Tributes remains a beautifully crafted, melodically memorable rock record. Apart, that is, from "Return Of The Berserker"--a cacophonous mid-album rampage that sees The Futureheads turning amps up to 11 and dipping the dials into the red, seemingly just to show they still can.--Louis Pattison

CD Description
'News And Tributes' is the second album from north-east post punks The Futureheads. Recorded in under two weeks on a farm in deepest Yorkshire, this album showcases yet again their unique take on acts such as XTC and Wire, with frantic call-and-response vocals combining with a breakneck punkish energy that is rarely bettered by their peers. Includes the single 'Skip To The End'.

Customer Reviews

More mature and brilliant from the Futureheads
This album typifies the Futureheads and from the first track to the last it shows the cutting edge of their first album along with the maturity of a bands second.

Yes/No-8/10 The begiinning of this sounds remarkably similar to Maximo Park's Signal and Sign as the heavy drum beat kicks in there are reminders of their first album as Barry yelps "yes" and "no" at the top of his voice

Cope-9/10 This embraces manic riffs from the start to coincide with harmonic backing vocals which 'Heads fans have become accustomed to.

Fallout 8/10 It oozes oooohs and aaaaahs in its vocals and is catchy as hell.

Skip To The End 10/10- The comeback single is a classic with a jerky guitars and charismatic lyrics make it a corker.

Burnt 8/10- Perhaps the most obvious sign of a change from album no 1. It shares similarities of Danger of the Water but has much heavier bass and a stronger chorus

News & Tributes 5/10- Title tracks are either brilliant or crap. Sadly this one is a bit of a filler after a few listens. Probably the weakest on the album. Its ok

Return Of The Beserker-7/10 I have to say when i first heard this i thought "what the hell?". However, i can see it being a live favourite and is definately a grower on record.

Back To The Sea 9/10- One of Ross's strongest songs and he does it brilliant. Oh so catchy and top driving music. Quality bass line with an exuberent chorus.

Worry About It Later 7/10 I think this song is great and possibly an 8/10 but they overdo it by making it too drawn out. Im used to short sharp 2 minuters from the Futureheads and they should have cut it short by a minute or so.

Favours for Favours 10/10- Wow! dont expect decent days and nights when i say that but this is just quality and so cactchy, romantic and fabulous. Surely 2nd single material!

Thursday 8/10 When i first heard this all i could think of for the intro was either Bowie or Beach Boys. Either way its deep and brilliant.

Face 9/10 This song has a brilliant unique quality by suddenly birsting into this awesome riff mid song. However, i cant help but think there is a better song in there.

98/110 in total.
I rekon this will have a larger appeal than their first effort and anyone who loves the Futureheads will instantly fall in love with this.

Big surprise
I've had a copy of this CD lying around on my desk for the past few weeks. To be honest I took so long to get around to listening to it as I didn't think it would be very good, having found "skip to the end" a bit of a Futureheads-by-numbers track. How wrong I was! Having been pleasantly lulled into a false sense of security by the first couple of tracks, which could easily sit alongside those on the first CD, I was caught unawares by the likes of "Burnt" with its mindbending tune and, especially the title track with its heartbreaking melody. These are followed by the equally wonderful "The return of the berserkers" - a stormswept rage of a tune. Other songs on this CD have even better harmonies than on the first one. All in all a more mature, thoughtful collection - and much more satisfying in the end.

Moving on
When the Futureheads first came to national attention in 2004, they were leaders of the 'angular/post-punk' wave of bands, producing an album full of catchy, well crafted songs with clever lyrics and unusual structures. They were good.

But now they're great. This album is such a step forward. Its the sound of a band developing their sound. Its the sound of a band on top of their game. Its the sound of a band who aren't afraid to try something new. Its brimming with intellgence, ideas and more importantly, great songs. One of which even surpasses the 4 minute mark!

Its darker than its predecessor, and not as instant. Where the first album didnt let up, this has genuine reflective moments. The gorgeous 'Thursday' is what the beach boys would have sounded like if they were from Sunderland, 'News and Tributes' is a touching accolade to the Manchester United side descimated by the Munich air disaster and the angry 'Burnt' compares love to being, well, burnt.

This new relective mode hasn't made them lose the art of crafting great melodic songs. 'Fall Out' is perhaps their best yet, 'Skip to the End' is classic Futureheads, 'Back to the Sea' and 'Favours for Favours' being other personal favourites. And stuck right in the middle is 'Return of the Berserker', the antidote to 'Danger of the Water' from their first album!

Those expecting the exhilerating post-punk rush of the debut album will be disappointed. Those who wish to hear a band who moved on, developed and improved their sound and crafted one of the finest albums you're likely to hear all year won't be.