Wax Idols – No Future

Hether Fortune, better known as WAX IDOLS, comes back since her last 7″, totally delivering on every aspect of the promise that we heard earlier this year. Thanks to the folks at Hozac Records, we now have “No Future” to share with all of you.

First things first, Hether Fortune’s “No Future” is hands down one of the best records of 2011 and not just because her songs are “good.” This lone woman hails from California where bands are plentiful – bands that have one dude per instrument. Opposed to that, Hether Fortune plays all of this shit by herself on “No Future.” If you don’t believe, go buy the fucking record and read the liner notes, she plays just about EVERYTHING – “vox, guitar, drums, piano, whatever else you think you hear.” Knowing this, that must even include the hand claps of “Gold Sneakers,” which supplies much detail to an already overwhelmingly gorgeous chorus of joyous pianos and sharp guitar leads, immediately thrusting Fortune’s mindful pop sensibilities to the top of the pedestal. That being said, this angry pop mastermind should be teaching a class to the majority of these California bands because at this point she’s already beyond lapping them.

Delivering on the promise from her earlier 7″ single on Hozac, while those songs were top notch, this new LP sets the bar even higher – definitely something we couldn’t have seen coming but are quickly welcoming. Fortune takes a wide array of sounds and influences and disperses them across an eleven-song-deep tracklist that is brimming with sheer talent and creativity, penning ten tracks (plus one Wire cover) which all differ greatly from each other, once again showing off sensible musical craftswoman-ship that is out of this world. Not to mention, she howls with great authority time and time again throughout the record. This brings to mind tracks with vocal-highlights like “Nothing at All” which features her trusty acoustic guitar and the abrasive “Human Condition.”

Through all of this, Fortune delivers with her patented straightforward attitude, proven excellently in songs like “Human Condition” where she mutters repeatedly “We get down, we get high, we get born, then we die.” If that wasn’t enough, the jubilant chorus of the flawless “Gold Sneakers” features one simply repeated lyric – “I love you.” – that is so frantically bubbly and upbeat you can’t help but spin the glamorous track over and over again. Now regarding more general album highlights, “Hitman” will have you swearing by this album by track two. Quivering guitar leads act as the tour guide through a tension-filled and stomping rhythm, culminating into this warmly layered ending with vibrant and resonant guitar soloing. Mix in more of Fortune’s powerful wailing and chanted vocals blasts exclaiming “kill’em kill’em” and you’ve got, once again, what some might call a perfect pop song.

Through a dangerously lethal mix of undeniably catchy pop songs with a gritty punk punch, Hether Fortune has created an album worth multiple spins on any record player. It might not happen all at once, but once people realize the caliber of what’s going on here, they’ll wish that they had paid attention sooner. At this point now, we can already look forward to the future (there IS a future), because Fortune has confirmed it via Twitter that she’s already made other demos. I don’t have proof but you can take my word, right? Now listen to these songs. Do it.

PS – Today is the premier of the “Gold Sneakers” music video! Go watch it here!

Dead Like You –

Hitman –

Gold Sneakers –

Grey Area –

My Rating: 9.5/10
Genre/ Tags: Pop, Punk, Alternative
No Future: Tracklist:
1.) Dead Like Me
2.) Hitman
3.) Dilno
4.) Gold Sneakers
5.) Nothing at All
6.) Hotel Room
7.) Human Condition
8.) Bad Future
9.) Uneasy
10.) Sand in My Joints
11.) Grey Area

BUY the LP directly from Insound – limited to 650 !
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Past Related Posts:
All Too Human 7″ (Hozac)
All Too Human CS (Psychic Snerts)
Blasted Canyons LP (Castle Face)