Banned From The Future is the debut full-length album by Sudbury’s Mick Futures, a pseudonym for Strange Attractor drummer and Statues bassist/vocalist Mitch Houle. At fifteen tracks, there is a lot of content, although most of the songs found on Banned From The Future are relatively short, some barely over one and a half minutes. The music pulls from the ubiquitous synth-driven sounds of the 80s, but specifically the sounds of artists such as early Brian Eno, Gary Numan, Devo and Kraftwerk. Futures also dons other subtler influences such as The Wipers, Buzzcocks and Wire.
The album opens with “My Machine Gun”. A song in which Mick Futures projects a Mark Mothersbaugh howl amongst fuzzy, static sounding guitar riffs. The chorus attacks with what sounds like either watery guitar effects or keyboards while throughout the song Futures sings with a verbal arsenal making a social commentary on the unease of the modern world and personal safety. The song also ties in with references of the frights of a past cold war hysteria. “Tentative Issue” floats with a Gary Numan influence. Paranoid expansive guitar lines glide with cold sounding drums and spaceship sounding synthesizers. It echoes the sounds of 80s, while at the same time offering something new to say, ending with the words “You can’t be everything to everyone”. These tracks are then followed by two shorter tracks. “A Few Pieces” melds together the different puzzle pieces of Devo, Kraftwerk and The Wipers constructing and infectious groove with handclaps and guitar lines, while “What Do You Say Now?” appears to be a comment on the creative process.
“Living On Dark Street” features acoustic guitar in the mix of a song that seems to bring forth a sci-fi element (one that is present throughout this album), but this song seems to be all about different personal perceptions. “In Case We Learn” chugs along with fuzzy guitar and a message that seems to portray a burning determination for success. “Whatever You Want” is part Canadian punk, part UK punk and part new wave. Futures sings in a voice similar to Diodes singer Paul Robinson, while the guitars echo with a the semblance of Buzzcocks guitarist Steve Diggle and the siren call guitar lines of Mick Jones on The Clash’s rendition of “Police On My Back”. This song is all about a call for action. It is not one with anything specific in mind, but just one that promotes going out and getting what you want. This also song struts with an underlying optimism.
Other confident moments on the album include, “Mini Mag” which seems to portray a feeling of the viewpoints in the mainstream media amongst icy Gang Of Four meets Canadian art rock band The Government song dynamics. “Cold Emotions” blurs the lines with its darker sci-fi dystopian imagery as “Two Hands” cascades with cleaner guitars and synthesizers. “Walk The Prism” sounds as if it were lifted from an old sci-fi soundtrack. The song also bears a resemblance to the instrumental songs found on Music Madness From The Kinetic Kid by Klark Kent. While Music Madness From The Kinetic Kid was the brainchild of Police drummer Stewart Copeland, Mick Futures takes his madness to different levels singing of “wishing his mind away” and “stitching the bonds of time to focus on something better” in his own illuminating patterns. The songs that make up Banned From The Future can at times have a bleak view, but there is also a silver lining of hopeful optimism. Banned From The Future takes the cold icy dystopian views of the past and applies it to the present.
Saturday Night Playlist:
1. Robert Gordon - Rock Billy Boogie
2. Cheater Slicks - Crying
3. Deerhunter - Memory Boy
4. Women - Shaking Hand
5. Slim Twig - Still The Same
6. Flamin’ Groovies - Shake Some Action
7. Luau Or Die - On The Fly
8. Pow Wows - Shock Corridor
9. Metric On The Sky
10. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - We Call Upon The Author
11. Paul Jacobs - Under Water
12. Guided By Voices - Echos Myron
13. Liz Phair - Girls! Girls! Girls!
14. Thee Oh Sees - Palace Doctor
15. Crosss - Mind
16. Jawbox - Jackpot Plus
17. Iceage - Simony
18. Test Tone Channel - Clown In The Dark
19. White Fence - Arrow Man
20. The Weirdies - Bad Connection
21. The Boys - I Don’t Care
22. The Wipers - Window Shop For Love
23. X-Ray Spex - I Can’t Do Anything
24. REM - (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
25. The Vee Eights - Trick Fueler
26. The Frenetics - Shortest String
27. Mick Futures - In Case We Learn
28. Mick Futures - Mini Mag
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for July 4. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.
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