Favours For Sailors: Furious Sons
Favours For Sailors: Furious Sons
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Tuesday, 10, Mar 2009 10:26
Tough Love Records, out now.
In a nutshell...
Joyful, mournful new wave
What's it all about?
Furious Sons brings us six songs from Hackney's hot new property, the splendidly named Favours For Sailors.
Mixing the New York new wave of Television with the preppy Afro-pop recently deployed with such success by Vampire Weekend, the mini-album is a tight, tantalising glimpse into why the quartet of JRC, AKDB, DSS and Maltese Falcon have been attracting admiring glances from the likes of Zane Lowe and Steve Lamacq - but don't let that put you off.
Who's it by
Favours For Sailors steamed out of east London fuelled by a mix of new wave guitars, FM pop sensibilities and reliably miserablist lyrics.
In little more than 12 months, this not so motley four-man crew have fashioned a sound distinctive enough to stand them apart from the capital's limitless supply of posturing, preening Pete-a-likes.
This initial offering showcases driving riffage (Erode My Empire), catchy, quirky hooks (I Dream That I Dreamt That You Loved Me In Your Dreams) and a rather sporting stab at the aforementioned Afro-pop indie (Shy Times).
As an example...
"I hate every face and relish every frown." - from the impeccably perky The Nihilist Prays
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
With just one mini-album (or EP for the traditionalists among us) to their name, Favours For Sailors have already garnered praise - and more importantly, airplay - from the UK's indie elite, from Lowe and Lamacq to XFM.
What the others say
"Favours for Sailors are a trio with potential enough to eclipse the all-conquering indie-pop titans of Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs given a hefty slice of luck and a hearty following wind." - Mike Diver, Rocksound magazine.
"There's something really classic about that, it's not just indie rock by numbers. late 70s FM rock. wicked," Zane Lowe, Radio 1.
So is it any good?
Potential is a word that crops up a lot in the burgeoning chatter surrounding Favours For Sailors and certainly as mini-albums go, there's plenty to spread around.
The band have honed a definite sound for themselves somewhere between Tom Verlaine's Television, Stephen Malkmus and Paul Simon's Graceland.
It's music that is endearingly unpretentious and like Manchester's Polytechnic, revels in its catchy hooks and pop sensibilities, while delivering that world-weary punch in the lyrics.
While the songwriting is strong enough over the six songs here to justify the fuss, it will be interesting to see (or rather, hear) if Favours For Sailors can sustain it over a full album.
They say the problem with potential is that, like bank balances, you always have a lot less than you think but on this showing Favours For Sailors still have plenty of wind in their sails.
7.5/10
Andy Jowett