The Futureheads - The Chaos

“Art”, novelist John Cheever reckoned, “is the triumph over chaos.” With a title track that lyrically rails against political apathy and uncertainty (“the Chaos/ It’s everywhere but what’s it got to do with us?” goes its refrain, led with a trademark ‘whoah’), it’s tempting to consider The Chaos as The Futureheads’ fire-in-the-belly manifesto, a politically-charged distillation of their ‘art’. And then you hear them slip in a brief Orville the Duck impression and remind yourself to stop being so bloody pompous. The Sunderland mob’s fourth album contains their freshest, fiercest, most playful set of songs since their debut – less frenetic than their introductory set, but refined to punk-rock purity. Heartbeat Song is a taut pop gem, while The Sun Goes Down showcases a new moodiness. It’s a tad exhausting, but their zealous pace is easily forgivable. Regardless of whether it constitutes ‘art’ or not, it’s certainly a triumph.[Chris Buckle]