Blending soaring guitar riffs with bouncy synths that meet in harmony for a sing-a-long chorus, The Big Pink may be staking a claim as the next arena rock gods.
The Big Pink- Future This (2012) – 8.2 / 10.0
4AD
The Big Pink’s 2009 debut A Brief History of Love made a splash around a very catchy single, “Dominos”, that ranked as one of my favorite songs in that year alongside Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” and Animal Collective’s “My Girls”. If A Brief History of Love had featured more songs like “Dominos”, it probably would have stood out more to me. However, instead of a rock/pop anthem band, the duo of multi-instrumentalists Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell were inclined to ground their music with elements of noise rock and shoegaze. While the album was still good, I didn’t connect with the album’s other ten tracks as much as “Dominos”.
On Future This, The Big Pink rectify my main qualm with their first album. Dropping the noise and haze of their debut and taking a more electro-rock stance, Future This shines with ten tracks that rival the pop demeanor of “Dominos”. Many songs are stand-outs that will remain memorable until year-end, an impressive feat considering the album’s January release. The band instills this notion immediately with the opening track and first single, “Stay Gold”. Blending soaring guitar riffs with bouncy synths that meet in harmony for a sing-a-long chorus, The Big Pink may be staking a claim as the next arena rock gods.
The tone of Future This also improves upon the stark, somewhat gloomy nature of A Brief History of Love. Where History was meticulous in its execution, Future This is carefree. Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell are focused on having a good time rather than being overly serious or dramatic. There is one dramatic turn though. The excellent closing track "77" ignores the bombast and pop heavy structure of the previous nine songs for a somber recollection of loss. While bearing a closer resemblance to History than most of Future This, "77" is still a decidedly different version (for the better) of The Big Pink than previously heard.
Some may argue that Future This is anthem overload, or that The Big Pink are a band reaching too far, too fast. And both of those are valid arguments, but Future This is simply enjoyable music that makes you smile. Not everything has to be an overblown exercise in being clever or artsy. The Big Pink have made an excellent pop record that I believe many of its naysayers will cling to near the end of the year. Why fight the future when the future is this?
Download: The Big Pink - Future This
Never heard of these guys until the album released and I was able to listen to it on Zune. I've been playing this album at least once a day and I don't touch the FF button at all, a very solid album in my opinion.
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