Future Of The Left are the best band you’ve never heard of.
Criminally underrated, combining some of the most satisfyingly vitriolic rock music with a uniquely hilarious lyrical wit that makes you go “Did he really just sing that?”.
With song titles like ‘White Privilege Blues’, ‘Robocop 4 - F#$% Off Robocop’ and ‘You Need Satan More Than He Needs You’, you know you’re in for something a little bit special.
"Not necessarily the best hecklers, I’m going to put that out to all Australians."
“'You Need Satan More Than He Needs You' was a song title I had before I had the song," the group's singer Andy Falkous says.
"I knew it wouldn’t be guitar based because if you’ve written a song about Satan and you’re slapping away on your guitar, you’ve instantly increased your virginity factor by eight million.”
While two of the band members are British, it’s their bassist Julia Ruzicka who links the band with Australia, coming from Melbourne as she does. She recently had her first child, Ella, with husband and band frontman Andy.
I’ve been told that being a parent gives you a new perspective on life that only a parent can understand, so I asked Andy if that was really true. “No. There’s the clichéd statements like 'As a father of a daughter, I think sexual assault is wrong', but I thought sexual assault was wrong before I had a daughter.
"You probably would feel even more extreme about it, but it’s ludicrous to suggest that. I think that’s more of a reflection of the person speaking rather than the process of fatherhood.”
With Julia’s family in this country, are they using the trip as an excuse to see family? “To a degree yes, but it’s also one of the best places in the world to play, some of our best crowds," Andy says.
"Not necessarily the best hecklers, I’m going to put that out to all Australians. Wait your f#$%ing turn, don’t all heckle at the same time, it’s not a race. Maybe you could have some kind of ticket system like you get in a deli.”
As anyone can testify who’s had the pleasure of experiencing it first hand, live the band are something else. It’s the environment they were written for, collectively experienced in a frothy pit of mayhem.
They were meant for the stage. I’ve seen them live 13 times because it’s an addictive experience. The fact that you can tell they’re enjoying the experience as much as those in the audience electrifies the atmosphere. “We don’t play that often, so playing for us is exciting. It’s the most fun that we have in our lives," Andy says.
"We pretty much play to the same level of intensity every night as a band.”
Andy Falkous is genuinely one of the funniest, most witty musicians I’ve ever interviewed, our chat ending up going on for 90 minutes. They’re a band who are fiercely independent, creating music on their own terms and building a cult fan-base who envy those who’ve yet to have the pleasure of working their way through their back catalogue for the first time.
While Andy originally made his name as the frontman of mclusky, it’s with Future Of The Left that he’s produced his best work and continues to do so.
I leave you with a quote out of context but too good to discard. “I love the word jowls. It’s a great word. The sense of life sagging down from the forehead towards the knees. A life beginning to end but desperate to hang on.”
Start 2018 in the best possible way; you need this band more than they need you.
Future Of The Left Tour Dates
Wed 10 Jan – Badlands Bar (Perth)Fri 12 Jan – The Foundry (Brisbane)
Sat 13 Jan – Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)
Sun 14 Jan – Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
