the futureheads - "area" (from the area ep, import available for preorder here.)

in brief : da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo.

for wags like me, who were caught saying things like, "yeah, the futureheads debut lp is all right, but it's nothing compared to their debut seven-inch. what? 1-2-3-nul!? no, i mean their first, self-released seven-inch, w/ songs like 'park inn.' you didn't hear it? figures"--for folks like us, the new futureheads ep returns to that original sound. (what? you didn't &c.)

oh, i liked "decent days & nights" as much as the next modern rock fan, but it didn't necessarily have to be a futureheads song (it could've been, the wags said, a knack song--not by me, though: i'm not that waggish). the futureheads, as i understand them, are different from the bloc partys and kaiser chiefs of the world, although either of those bands would happily trade their copy of return the gift for a hook as infectious as the "da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo, da doo-doo" that runs through "area." no, the 'heads are a bit like late early wire: crammed w/ fully-developed ideas in half the run time of other bands; an aural assault from all directions (by longitude and latitude--or length by width, even). and b/c they're not early early wire, they're always going to be a little less popular than those aforementioned bands--which is fine for types like me, for whom obscurity is half the fun, but w/ its mix of hooks and experimentation, it should play well w/ general audiences, if given a shot.