The Thursday Torys / Future Folks / August 2018
https://soundcloud.com/thethursdaytorys/sets/future-folks
RIYL: The Dears, Radiohead, Phil Spector
How do you retain a persona when all of your tracks are vastly different from each other? The Thursday Torys know, and the answer is in their debut album, Future Folks.
I love this record. I find myself coming back for repeat listens. I’m reminded of the Dears, a band that shaped my sophomore year of high school. With dreamy baritone, lush arrangements, and lovesick lyrics, it gives me a nostalgia of when I lost my high school sweetheart many years ago.
This is also one of the most eclectic albums I’ve ever heard. The tracks range from synth pop, psychedelia, chamber pop. Hell, “Driving Song” sounds like it could fit on Radiohead’s Kid A.
The album opens with “Cold Wind,” with dream like keyboards and a melody that sounds like it came out of a Phil Spector-produced ballad. It ends with a choir of background vocals, atmospheric and heavenly.
“Stone” gives me heavy Magnetic Fields vibes. The single word chorus is beautiful and haunting.
The standout on this album has to be “Love In The Afternoon.” The chorus is explosive, with brass and the sound of rainfall as a backdrop. A theme throughout the record is pretty chord progression and melody with brutally depressing lyrics. “We’re making love in the afternoon/lounging while the flowers bloom/we can not sustain this.” That sentiment is soul-crushing, but the way the Torys deliver it sounds so beautiful.
I’m excited for what this band has yet to give us. Future Folks is dreamy, sad, optimistic, and a true powerhouse of a record. I haven’t heard a debut that sounds this seasoned and mature in a long time.
–Ethan Larsh
Digital Wheat Paste 