A noise-oriented punk band with some artsy experimental tendencies,
Year Future leavens their screamo attack with unexpected elements like heavy dub basslines and gothy keyboard textures, with influences ranging from
Fugazi and early
Sonic Youth to
Public Image Ltd. and
Dead Can Dance. Something of a post-hardcore supergroup,
Year Future is led by singer and lyricist Sonny Kay, formerly of Angel Hair and
the VSS and also the owner of the estimable Gold Standard Labs label, home of
the Mars Volta and others. Kay formed
Year Future in 2003 with guitarist Rocky Crane (formerly of
Creeps on Candy and
Dead & Gone), drummer Jim Andersen (Talk Is Poison,
the Pattern), and bassist Sam Ott. The
Year Future EP was released at the end of 2003, followed by the more polished
The Hidden Hand in the fall of 2004. Prior to the start of sessions for
Year Future's full-length debut, Ott and Andersen left the band, eventually replaced by bassist
Pete Lyman (
Living Science Foundation) and drummer
Chris Hathwell, who splits his time between
Year Future and his own band, the moody post-punk outfit
Moving Units.
Hathwell's other commitments, Kay's label duties, and a full tour slate delayed the recording and release of
Year Future's debut album, First World Fever, until May 2006. ~ Stewart Mason