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Jan 16, 2012 Issue #39 - Best of 2011 By Luke Winkie

It’s actually kinda disheartening to think that The Big Pink have yet to cross over into chart-bound profitability. It certainly isn’t for lack of trying; their ballsy 2009 debut, A Brief History of Love, was so thoroughly packed with confident hooks some writers were almost offended by the duo’s perceived arrogance. How could two Londoners stand where the giants of Oasis and The Verve once stood and feel at home? It doesn’t matter, because they aren’t moving.

The lead single for Future This, their sophomore effort, features a skyscraping hook that declares “I don’t wanna hit the ground/I’m Superman!” Safe to say The Big Pink aren’t feeling modest yet; they’ve returned with the exact same populist ambitions, shaving down the barrier of entry to a mere speed bump. With so many stadium bands adapting to hoity-toity, brow-furrowed ambitions, The Big Pink have only moved closer to the center.

Naturally that can be a good and a bad thing—while there’s absolutely no doubt the Future This suite will absolutely slay live, some of the flossier cuts don’t really hold their weight. “Give It Up” in particular is the exact kind of sugary, electro-rock comfort food that isn’t easy to swallow on record. There are a lot of crystal-clear strands of body-thumping guitar rock, which, while perfectly capable, might turn off the disciples of their initial fog-burning assault.

It’s not like you won’t recognize them, The Big Pink still have the octane, and songs “1313” and “Jump Music” do get back to the fuzz, but Future This is a shift to a cleansed, more professional-minded sound, capturing their flares in short, distinct bursts. It might be easy to feel the nostalgia for History of Love‘s devil-may-care sprawl, but The Big Pink have larger aspirations. They want to be the world’s rock band, and they deserve it. (www.musicfromthebigpink.com)

Author rating: 7/10