I’m currently sitting in the Vancouver Airport, partway through my yearly trek home for the holidays. Amidst the panicked travellers and the strange guy sitting behind me talking like a dinosaur (?), I figured I’d do a review of one of my highest-rotation albums over the past week, It’s Forever Kids by UK outfit Futurecop!
I’ll start off by saying that I’m not supposed to have this album. Not yet, at least. It’s currently only available in Japan (international release TBA), so I had to scour the internet to find a J-pop MP3 store that would accept my credit card (thanks Music Ocean) and I had to drop 1500 yen on it (approx. $18 CAD). I ‘ve listened to Futurecop! for a long time, so I’ve followed them on their rise from 80′s nostalgic synth-kids to electro-pop stars.
The album starts off with a bang: Transformers (Into The Future) is the re-edit of their older song Transformers (original video here – note than I think the girl in that is absurdly cute) and is a wicked good way to start off the record. It’s featuring the new female vocalist, which you may or may not like – it works here, in my opinion.
Tonite’s Hero – the second track – starts off a bit shaky with some questionable rhyming from Keith Masters (the dude who raps on the album) but once it gets moving, this becomes one of my favourite tracks. It’s another remake of their older track, just with higher-quality synths and production (and lyrics).
Next up is Venice Beach – this is the only track they would give me stems (remixing tracks) for, and I’m still not stoked on it, even after listening to it many, many times. It’s just…. missing something. It’s also way too long and repetitive. Futurecop’s sound isn’t actually unique and maybe that’s why I don’t dig this, it’s got nothing interesting to set it apart. Some cool production work but overall I’ll pass.
Street Hawk I is a great track. Catchy, simple, melodic, a couple of solid hooks. This is what the album needs more of – this track reminds of the older (Unicorn and the City of Alvogroth era) stuff, no rapping, and the vocals aren’t overwhelming. The first original track for this album, Street Hawk I is one of my favourites.
1988 Girls, the next track, is not very good. I’m just going to get that out of the way. It’s a shitty remake of their older track ’88 Girls. By remake I mean they literally just put Keith Masters’ vocals overtop of the old track. No changes, no production. Up til now, the album is pretty uniformly produced but shit goes awry here. Easily could have gone without hearing this track at all. It’s catchy sometimes… but it sucks. Sorry.
Starworshipper is wicked. I love this song – I’ve been following it since its first instrumental myspace release long ago. I remember the first time I heard this track with vocals (at the time just rapping) I texted my brother at like, 7 AM I was so excited. In my opinion the track has gotten a bit too busy with all the female vocals (the line “I can’t believe this is happening to me” is so squished into like, 3 syllables) but still a banger. I could get down to this (I have).
The Beast on Saturn. I’m actually going to say that again in all caps – THE BEAST ON SATURN. This is the first straight-up electro banger I’ve heard from Futurecop! and I love it. I want more. Lots more. Please. #1 track on the album for me.
N.A.S.A. is a point of debate among the people who’ve heard the album – it’s the remake of their most popular (and first breakout) track with vocals put in. That sounds great, but the actually redid all the synth and drums and stuff, taking a lot of the charm out of it. I’ve grown accustomed to it and actually I dig it now, it’s just a lot more chill than the first. The vocals are okay but surprisingly lacking in hooks or a good melody. Ah well, still tied for my favourite track on the album.
Dreams and Forever: Dreams are wicked good. The chorus of dreams makes me groove every time I hear it, and the production on Forever: Dreams is TIGHT. Two more of my favourites.
Street Hawk II and Far Away are okay, nothing really special for me. By the time I get here, I’m ready for a new sound… but that’s not what you get. Kind of sticks with the typical electro-pop thing, which works, it’s just a bit tired at this point.
Now, I have the Japanese version of the album, which includes two bonus tracks – Hey Heartthrob and Transformers (Kiyoshi Sugo Remix). I beg you, do not listen to these tracks. Hey Heartthrob is just a terrible song, there’s no other way to put it. Originally a track from them a while a go, it now has a smattering of 2009-female-rap inspired shit overtop (yeah, it’s shit). Of course, this is my opinion, feel free to disagree. It was just not a good instrumental track (and it’s still not). The remix is just… a remix. Nothing special. Actually it’s below average. No idea who Kiyoshi Sugo is but he sounds boring.