Future Of The Left – How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident (2013)

November 14, 2024

If anything, the previous two EPs and their extra noisy / unusual songs were a good litmus test for how this would unfold in the form of a full length albums. Several songs from such EPs are reprised, along with a flurry of brand new head scratchers. Honestly, some of this shit is absolutely massive; huge cascading walls of sound crafted from slabs of bass and angular guitars. On paper that sounds like something influenced by New York no wave madmen such as Swans or early Sonic Youth, but in reality the sound is much more modern and fresh. Like, did Black Midi hear this album and decide to base their whole career off it? Talk about ahead of its time!

As the record goes on the songs start to become more restrained in sonic explosiveness but are instead more experimental. All of course, whilst retaining that FOTL/Falko charm. Going through the band’s entire discography chronologically, How To Stop Your Brain… has been the biggest surprise yet. What a gem.