Noise Factory United: Visions From The Frontier
Self Released
If you see the abbreviation NFU and expect a tirade from the landed gentry against paying their taxes, you’ll be gladly mistaken, as Noise Factory United have an altogether different world view.
Visions From The Frontier is challenging and fascinating from the off, the lead track, The Quickest Blade In The West, juxtaposing jaunty yet sinister Devo-esque electronica with a serious and increasingly topical examination of masculine bravado and sabre-rattling at every level, from personal to global. Never a band to dumb down their lyrics, NFU throw the listener this little nugget to ponder:
Oh man, the oblique slides with bated breath,
Like whispers from the jaws of our demise.
Oh woman, can I really hear what’s being said,
And would my mama be happy with me?
The atmospherically enigmatic and imaginatively produced Tattooed Street is a splendidly realised metaphorical visualisation of the artistic delights displayed on every corner of an unspoilt bohemian road. While being essentially optimistic, highlighting as it does our ability to find beauty under our very noses should we care to look, there is maybe an underlying sense of remorse that this is the exception surrounded by the mundane. And as NFU like to keep us on our toes, they even have us scrabbling for the French dictionary, only to find it raises more questions than answers.
Cloud Pleaser transports us from the earthbound to the stratospheric and beyond with a dreamy, hippyish space-rock-meets-New Order feel, complete with modified vocals and instrumental noodling. Is it better to keep your feet on the ground and suffer the slings and arrows of modern-day misfortune or rise above it all and take a step into the unknown? Beautiful and unsettling in equal measure.
Ladyhammer is a joyously energetic sub-three-minute piece of classic New Wave which charges all over the place like a disobedient puppy. Complete with careering synths, catchy chorus and shouty backing vocals, the song celebrates female intellect as being more than a match for brute force as NFU again demonstrate that it’s possible to be weighty without being po-faced. Always an education, there’s more French and an intriguing analogous reference to the London Artefact (London Hammer) which, for the uninitiated, is worth a search in its own right.
The incessant, hypnotic rhythms of That’s When The Cuckoo Kicks carry the subtle waft of revolutionary fervour as NFU serve notice that it’s only a matter of time before the lifestyle and status symbols of the rich and famous are disrupted. Another delicious helping of the subversive wrapped in the sublime.
Closing track Fractures visits everything from the kitchen-sink dramas of everyday domestic disappointments to a universal unravelling of modern society – a haunting yet urgent stream of consciousness set to jagged guitars, swirling keyboards and regimented drum beats. The song and EP, however, draw to a conclusion with a note of defiance and statement of intent: “I think we must need politiko-disko!”
Indeed, music undeniably has the power to influence and effect change. And even if NFU can’t put the world to rights on their own, they at least get it all off their collective chests and, in the process, create a sense of kindred spirit and communal empowerment as we navigate this ever more problematic journey together. Their engaging brand of lyricism is enhanced by the medium of its delivery: the band take their duties as musicians every bit as seriously as their societal observations, offering a heady mix of the melodious and the thought-provoking. A highly impressive collection from the Hampshire visionaries.
NFU Linktree
All words by Robin Boardman. More writing from Robin for Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive.
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