The Big Pink ‘Future This’

When Milo Cordell unveiled the big secret behind The Big Pink’s second album at the beginning of this year, noses crinkled. “A lot of white, middle class bands say, ‘We’re going to make a hip-hop record’, but we’re actually going to do it,” he said. Wow. Would crisp beats, baggy pants and hot tubs full of babes reign where sludgy beats and infinite layers of drugged-out noise once slithered? Not quite. Milo, it turns out, wasn’t being entirely truthful (“I wish I hadn’t said that,” he told NME recently). So, with super-energetic drummer Akiko gone, what have they been doing? Have they really taken an (MC) hammer to their walls of sound? Will ‘Future This’ be enough to restore trust in these hipster-magnets and turn them into pop stars? Ben Homewood finds out…

‘Stay Gold’
An electronic hook twists and turns, a ‘Dominos’-aping industrial beat booms and Robbie Furze’s sozzled slur wraps itself around the music. Despite peddling a synth line that recalls a between-first-and-second-album Horrors, ‘Stay Gold’’s driving persistence comes as no great shock. But before you dismiss the lead single with a “So far, so Big Pink,” listen closely to the lyrics. The message here is resoundingly positive; the repeated “Gold, gold,” refrain stopping just short of Spandau Ballet.

‘Hit The Ground (Superman)’
Robbie’s playing an acoustic guitar. A throbbing robot pulse (like a bruised, groggy Kraftwerk) soon takes over. Already a more sombre affair than the opener, this Laurie Anderson-borrowing track talks of “leaving everyone behind” before referencing “name-droppers and the unkind”. ‘Hit…’ is gently moving, the swell of the chorus packed with feeling.

‘Give It Up’
Squeezed between brass and synths that teeter on the edge of luscious, Robbie’s lyrics (references to “fire” and “desire” before the implored “Give it up for me, it doesn’t have to be so hard” chorus) are again given an emotive edge. Under the mid-paced plod, girly backing vocals swirl amidst a whirlpool of twisted effects that screams “Hey, this isn’t just noise, it’s modern and pretty, like Toro Y Moi, not My Bloody Valentine!!” It also gains the album’s first hip-hop point – the rumbling low end could be straight outta Compton (or another equally hip-hop-friendly district).

‘The Palace (So Cool)’
The delicate clink of ‘The Palace…’’s opening seconds could be the sound of Robbie and Milo, leather jackets off and hoods down, tapping at the glass door of The House Of Conventional Love Songs. “Can we come in? Listen to this one, you might cry,” they’re saying. And they’re right. Where ‘A Brief History Of Love’ rendered affairs of the heart as bleak and as unforgiving as a concrete Sahara, this blushing lovelorn hunk is the biggest hint yet that The Big Pink really have mellowed.

‘1313’
Just when you thought they were about to start whispering sweet nothings, Robbie and Milo leave you all dressed up and alone at Carluccio’s, stood up and insecure, whilst they’re off with pretty girls, drilling holes in walls with feedback and industrial electronics that not even the most sound-proofed construction-worker’s ear-muffs could protect you from. There’s a soaring hook here too, planting one of ‘1313’’s feet into ‘A Brief…’ territory and the other into massive headache town. Oh, and it’s six minutes long.

‘Rubbernecking’
‘Rubbernecking’ wields another familiarly serrated edge; a could-be-massive chorus subtly unfolds in the shadow of a menacing tower of noise. More like the Big Pink we know, all aircraft-hanger echo and cocksure swagger, this one smacks of late nights, debauchery and, um, smack.

‘Jump Music’
The hotchpotch of effects that has characterised the album thus far doesn’t let up on this,  the album’s fastest track yet. Robbie’s vocals are languid, at odds with the frenetic jitter of guitars and (electronic, don’t forget Akiko is gone) drums. But suddenly, with a minute to go, everything breaks down. A distorted cry of “Mayday, mayday,” heralds a jagged outro of muffled vocals and mournful echo.

‘Lose Your Mind’
Bit of a James Bond moment, this. Bells ring, then a clap of thunder, then bang – a shrill refrain that recalls Brosnan’s brawn, Craig’s charm and Connery’s calculated cool. If the next Bond film was to be set in Bethnal Green, with Dev Hynes as the chameleon criminal baddy, Fred from Spector the debonair star and Alice Dellal the alluring-but-watch-out-she’s-fiesty bombshell, this would surely soundtrack the opening credits.

‘Future This’
The album’s title is taken from a 1980s skateboard ad that Milo liked. The title track however, is not so skateboard friendly. Kids couldn’t kickflip to this under the Southbank, not even the blonde guy from Dalston Superstars. A thoughtful commentary (“love runs faster than time,”) this futuristic number is bookended by what sounds like a badly-oiled motorbike engine. With heartfelt sentiment and a sprinkling of noise, ‘Future This’ goes some way to summing up The Big Pink version 2.0.

‘77’
The noise smeared at either end of the title track suggested that Milo and Robbie aren’t yet prepared to give themselves fully to naked emotion and stripped-back sound. Conversely, however, with its maudlin strings, high-pitched backing vocals and brazenly heartbroken lyrics, ‘77’ does exactly those things.