| POSTED BY: JOE PUGLISI
Future of What is a young Brooklyn band that knows the value of melody in each of its components, not just the topside vocal lines. There are a lot of payoff moments here. Odd that I should be listening to a lot of The Killers lately, admiring their interlocking part writing and impeccable song construction skills, because a lot of those qualities are what attracts me to Future of What. The band moves with a somewhat muted Brooklyn ennui, very different from the bombastic lights-and-explosions of The Killers, but their songs also explore these feelings with intertwined riffs and melodic contour, as well as interesting twists on the usual mid-twenties preoccupations -- for example, an obsession with the pratfalls of adolescence manifests itself in the cry "middle school was easy," which I found particularly interesting and unique. The song "White Light" may be the best synesthesia-ish anthem in recent memory -- you're almost blinded by the synthetic constructs and the soft, affecting vocals of Blair. Moonstruck is an appropriate label for the mood here. It's love in space.
I admire these core qualities and think them a bit rare, especially from a four-month-old band, and doubly especially considering their geographic peers. Brooklyn as a whole has no shortage of "cool" sounding bands, playing house parties and pretending to have a shot at making noise in the congested sea of recording artists competing like Three Stooges syndrome to get noticed. Not only does FOW have this neat, below-the-radar aesthetic via production -- Daniel Schlett (Here We Go Magic, Friends) -- and in their stage presence -- saw 'em jive at a small event during Northside -- but they write songs. It's become more of a rarity than one might imagine. "Party In Heaven" has an awesome hook, with the melody curling down at just the right moment on "just trying to survive." If they keep this up, they won't have to worry about it.
