Warning: Impending Dark Age. Futureheads Song Dead in the Water?

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Seems to me that radio people are in a position to program more good stuff along these lines and even more adventurous stuff (why shouldn't Fiery Furnaces and Jennifer Gentle and Of Montreal have hits, too?). Local station here in San Diego BRIEFLY added the Futureheads' "Decent Days and Nights," which is really good, but it seems to have dropped off. Why? There's no reason that shouldn't have been pushed as much as Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" and "This Fire."

I hope this is not a sign that the trend was a brief one and is already coming to a premature end.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Somehow the word 'hyperbolic' springs to mind.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha, you'll laugh when it all comes true!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Though I hope it doesn't!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm laughing now.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, well, as for me, I feel for the Futureheads, man. What a shame.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I feel for them deeply.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:38 (twenty-one years ago)

tim are you talking about 91x or what??

― vahid (vahid), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:39 (twenty-one years ago)

No, were they playing it at all? 94.9 was playing it for a bit.

X-post: And well you should, Mr. Sarcasm.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I am deeply moved.

― Mr. Sarcasm (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:54 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm sorry tim but i have no idea why you're expecting 94.9 to present any sort of editorial voice as broadcasters. that station peddles to the lowest-common-denom as plainly as any clear channel station, in this case the denominator is slightly more alt than vanilla rock radio but much much safer than, say, the lineup for coachella or the sun god festival at ucsd, let alone college radio or whatever. if they're not playing the futureheads it's because the futureheads isn't doing so great on soundscan. just because they let rob crow on last week for two hours to play lightning bolt and daniel johnston doesn't make these guys any less craven (ok market-driven) than the next commercial station.

― vahid (vahid), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:54 (twenty-one years ago)

also looking at their website ~~makes me want to destroy the world~~ helps me understand why the locust are from san diego. i live amongst america's most whitebread ass-backwards 18-29 demographic.

― vahid (vahid), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, who broke Franz Ferdinand, then?

And Ned! What if your Bloc Party get screwed over, too?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:57 (twenty-one years ago)

MTV

― vahid (vahid), Monday, 28 February 2005 06:59 (twenty-one years ago)

OK, well, IT'S ON THEIR SHOULDERS THEN!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 07:00 (twenty-one years ago)

OHMIGAWD A BAND I LIKE NOT GETTING A BREAK ON MAINSTREAM RADIO WHAT THE FUCK WILL I DO.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 07:00 (twenty-one years ago)

If you're like me, you will bemoan the onset of another Dark Age. You will miss the halcyon days of 2004, when bands were gettin' ADDED. You will curse the radio programmers who won't play new stuff thinking they've got enough cutting edge credibility because they're playing a track fromt the new White Stripes album.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 07:05 (twenty-one years ago)

NED CHECK EMAIL

tim - frankly i think you have to admit there's a pretty big gap between YYYs / franz ferdinand / white stripes and the futureheads / of montreal / i forget who else you mentioned. they could promote the hell out of the futureheads and they'd still never really shift units the way the white stripes do.

to analogize yeah i was impressed as the next guy when daft punk blew up on alternative radio (waaaay back in 98) but i'm not holding my breath for dj obscure from chicago or even U.S.E. or even basement jaxx to make it on american rock radio.

― vahid (vahid), Monday, 28 February 2005 07:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I believe I am not like you.

xpost -- e-mail read and responded, good Mr. Vahid.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 07:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Vahid, there is like NO GAP between Franz Ferdinand and the Futureheads.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 07:10 (twenty-one years ago)

The Futureheads are the same group as Franz Ferdinand, who are Europeans playing Roxy Music while trying to sound like the Fall.

This topic is now about band math equations.

― Cunga (Cunga), Monday, 28 February 2005 07:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Whatever. I heard Tegan and Sara on the radio just now, that's all I care about.

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Monday, 28 February 2005 08:05 (twenty-one years ago)

The Futureheads remind me of the Rezillos, which is a good thing in my book. Franz Ferdinand do not remind me of the Rezillos.

I think vahid is selling San Diego a little short. Surprisingly few awful bands have sprung from her shores, and yet lots of decent ones. In a town with zero good venues, it's pretty surprising. I miss the 91X of my youth, before the mooks took over.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Monday, 28 February 2005 08:08 (twenty-one years ago)

the mooks have always ruled this beautiful shithole - what do you expect, it's a military town.

― vahid (vahid), Monday, 28 February 2005 08:16 (twenty-one years ago)

the true measure is if stuff gets played in bars. not clubs, bars.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 28 February 2005 11:20 (twenty-one years ago)

In a town with zero good venues

Casbah, dude.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 13:40 (twenty-one years ago)

just one thing, you're forgetting 9/11

― ilkley lido (gareth), Monday, 28 February 2005 13:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought someone might take it upon themselves to point out that Franz Ferdinand and the Futureheads do not SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME, which was not my point. My point was that, as far as radio people programming the stuff, both bands are just about exactly an equal stretch away from the usual alternative rock radio stuff. It's not like Franz Ferdinand is way more commercial or less bizarre somehow.

"Selling San Diego a little short. Surprisingly few awful bands have sprung from her shores"

You are prepared for the onslaught of Louis XIV, I hope.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)

How are Louis SIV, by the way? My little brother called me and said "You should he Louis XIV -- the singer sounds just like the guy from the Fall."

Whenever my brother describes a band to me, however, it usually turns out to be 180 degrees from reality.

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 28 February 2005 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Futureheads sound exactly like early XTC.

Franz Ferdinand sound like Gang of Four covering Soft Cell.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 28 February 2005 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

i heard louis xiv and it sounded like the singer was ripping of craig finn!

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:19 (twenty-one years ago)

The Futureheads are the same group as Franz Ferdinand, who are Europeans playing Roxy Music while trying to sound like the Fall.

Actually, The Futureheads are Europeans playing XTC while ending up sounding like Adam & The Ants minus one drummer.

Franz Ferdinand sound like Gang of Four covering Soft Cell.

That sounds pretty damn good.

― Hector Savage, Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the Futureheads waaaaay more than I do Franz Ferdinand (who I also like) but the ideas behind this thread give me teh headache

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm just playing Shellac's "The End Of Radio" now.. not added on 94.9 either.

― donut debonair (donut), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:33 (twenty-one years ago)

It's not like I'm saying "this is the only good music on radio," if that's what you're implying. (x-post)

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm implying that the idea that commercial radio is a lost cause on pretty much every level and that flukes are flukes.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:37 (twenty-one years ago)

the idea of, sorry

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Man, I was believing that things might be turning around and now you're telling me it was all a fluke. : (

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:40 (twenty-one years ago)

wait until 103.1 in L.A. or 94.9 become ranchero stations.

Fluke buffet.

― donut debonair (donut), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:41 (twenty-one years ago)

2004: the glory days

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:42 (twenty-one years ago)

turning around into what, exactly?

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 01:49 (twenty-one years ago)

A veritable renaissance, of course

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 02:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Casbah, dude.

I mean, it's okay, but it isn't great. San Francisco has at least 10 better clubs, in my opinion. But decent bands play there, true.

I used to go to Soma a lot before it closed down, although that place was terrible. I've never checked out any of the 21 and up bars in SD apart from Casbah because I... uh.. wasn't 21 when I lived there, but I've never heard anything good about em.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 02:38 (twenty-one years ago)

A veritable renaissance of an early 80s British renaissance...??

― donut debonair (donut), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 02:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, it's happening to some degree, but not on the radio.

― donut debonair (donut), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 02:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I was joking. This was the theme of the thread for those who have forgotten:

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE THE STUFF, at least as singles music, U.S. alternative rock radio was getting good there for a moment with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Postal Service, Franz Ferdinand, Killers, and Modest Mouse...Seems to me that radio people are in a position to program more good stuff along these lines and even more adventurous stuff (why shouldn't Fiery Furnaces and Jennifer Gentle and Of Montreal have hits, too?). Local station here in San Diego BRIEFLY added the Futureheads' "Decent Days and Nights," which is really good, but it seems to have dropped off. Why? There's no reason that shouldn't have been pushed as much as Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" and "This Fire." I hope this is not a sign that the trend was a brief one and is already coming to a premature end.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 03:57 (twenty-one years ago)

but tim, that futureheads song sucks ... i say this not as an indie rock partisan but as a disinterested observer. even entertainment weekly could only bestow a b+ on their album, while franz ferdinand and yeah yeah yeahs etc make it onto year-end "best of" lists. things are as they have now and ever been - there will always be songs that suck. this isn't a trend indicating anything.

ps - all radio sucks except for jazz radio and public broadcasting.

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 04:38 (twenty-one years ago)

oh yeah, and rap radio between the hours of 9 pm and 4 am on friday and saturday nights, that doesn't suck either.

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 04:39 (twenty-one years ago)

coincidentally, what do you think of new jack rap station "blazin' 98.9" calling out "jammin' z90" by name in their promo spots (cue female voice: "z90?? they suck!! too many ads!!" BLAAAZIN NINETYEIGHTNINE!!!)

i think this is the real trend, though i'm not sure what it indicates

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Vahid, note "FOR THOSE WHO LIKE THE STUFF" disclaimer in original post.

And you're wrong about NPR, which kinda sucks.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 04:47 (twenty-one years ago)

How much did Clear Channel lose again? where's that thread?

― donut debonair (donut), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 05:07 (twenty-one years ago)

"KINDA sucks"??? KINDA?!?!?!?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 12:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I also like the 98.9 ads where they diss on the Z90 morning DJ chick for not being 'real hip-hop' Laffo. Blazin 98.9 got on the Reggaeton bandwagon real early (before z90, power 106 as far as I can tell) so that's nice. 105.5 la que buena is still the best radio station in so-cal.

― tylero (tylero), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 22:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Futureheads sound exactly like early XTC

Could someone point me in the direction of an XTC album that sounds exactly like the Futureheads? This is an honest question - because I've only a passing familiarity XTC (mainly late-period stuff - like "Dear God" or "Peter Pumpkinhead" or "Senses Working Overtime" -that sounds much slicker than and lacks the raw energy of the Futureheads) so if there's some earlier stuff out there that does, then I'd like to seek it out. tHx.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 22:15 (twenty-one years ago)

tim i m nu-wave 4 life n u r tripping ballz

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 22:23 (twenty-one years ago)

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