Let’s be honest, The Amazons are a band that could easily fall under the radar. If you can imagine having a conversation with your mate and describing the band’s basic details - an English band made up of four lads making stadium-style indie rock - they’d probably go through five different bands before realising who you were on about. The only way to remedy this is for The Amazons to create an identity so bold and unique, it’s hard to ignore. And that is where Future Dust comes in. With the band’s second album dealing in old school rock and uncompromising ideals, it serves to be one of the best guitar driven album this year has had to offer so far.
The album wastes no time as ‘Mother’ is an anthemic introduction to this era of The Amazons. A natural radio hit, everything about the song intrigues. From the overblown intro that sounds like something from Royal Blood’s first album to the coming of age theme that runs through the song, and the record. The tough, gritty guitars weighted down by reverb couple nicely with the impassioned singing, proving Matt Thomson’s vocals have been turned up a notch.
As suggested before, the guitars are really the star of this record. Glimpses of brilliance come through as ‘Fuzzy Trees’ brings low-fi guitars with tinges of indie rock. ‘25’ feels more anthemic as the sense of being young and reckless reinforces that coming of age concept.
While Future Dust offers plenty of quality moments, there comes a point where some of the songs begin to blend together. ‘Warning Signs’, while solid in its own right, could do with more layers and production to truly give it that epic feel it so badly yearns for. Then there’s ‘Doubt It’, a song that really does not need to be almost five minutes long.
The melodic tones of ‘All Over Town’ offer something different though at the half way point. A slower tempo and more intricate sound gives the impression of feeling more genuine and honest than anything else on the album. 'End Of Wonder’ and it’s pulsing drums has an underground feel, complete with guitar solos and boisterous breakdowns.
Future Dust truly satisfies as it gets more gritty and down to earth throughout the runtime, and even softer moments like ‘The Mire’ and ‘25 (Reprise)’ break into crashing instrumentals. As Thomson sings out “Georgia” over and over, on the final track of the same name, it’s hard to ignore the sense of longing and looking forward to the future. If The Amazons keep making albums like this, the future looks very good.
Future Dust is out now via Fiction Records.
