Forward Russia - Life Processes
[Cooking Vinyl]

The gestation period of ‘Life Processes’ saw ¡Forward, Russia! veer significantly from their familiar territory. The decision to team up with a new producer, combined with the act of upping sticks to the States for two months to record the album, represented a couple of notable departures for the band in terms of their approach. They would also later part company with the Dance To The Radio label, a move which lent further weight to the rapidly-developing idea that the Leeds quartet were intent on shaking things up for album number two.

From a musical point-of-view, things have moved on too. Opening track ‘Welcome To The Moment...’ goes about laying down the blueprint straight from the off, characterised straightaway by huge, swirling guitars alongside a rhythm section which rattles along like an adrenaline-fuelled pulse, pounding beneath Tom Woodhead’s powerful, baying cry. You can tell almost immediately that they sound stronger as a unit than ever before, and it inevitably makes for exhilarating listening throughout. Even during the album’s quieter segments (of which there are many) the sense of cohesion is there for all to witness.

Plenty more reveals itself on ‘A Prospector Can Dream’, a song rich in different stylistic details whose effortless proximity to one another embodies what makes ¡Forward, Russia! so thrilling when they get it right. They’re not content with simply blowing us away with a massive chorus, which in this case, hits some serious heights with its initial and closing refrains: “Sheath all your weapons and head for the South!... We could be something in a new location!”. Flanked by verses whose instrumentation bounces and growls ominously, the lyrics of the chorus allude to the group’s own geographical departure, and Tom’s vocals literally soar. Despite the obvious changes of speed, key and structure in ‘A Prospector…’, they manage to make everything fit together and flow, however different each fragment might be from the next; later on in the song they even throw in a beat-heavy middle 8 and a hymn-like chant for good measure.

The band’s whole-hearted unpredictability may well take first-time listeners by surprise, but songs like ‘Breaking Standing’ (their most accessible offering to date) and beautiful slow-burner ‘Spanish Triangles’ will provide some sanctuary, on account of their immediacy and charm. For longer-term fans of their work however, a track such as the live favourite ‘Gravity & Heat’ will always be seen as one which illustrated the group’s coming of age in the post-‘Give Me A Wall’ era, ricocheting as it does from one level to the next with unrelenting confidence and pace. After a gentle opening 45 seconds, Whiskas suddenly unleashes all hell with some rasping guitar riffs more commonly associated with the other artists on producer Matt Bayles’ client list. And for six devastating minutes, the song’s backdrop morphs into an impressive array of forms, with Katie’s drums a driving force right the way through. It’s the tracks like these on ‘Life Processes’, where you’re carried and thrown all over the place, which stand out as a result of their sheer magnitude of ideas and expression.

¡Forward, Russia! may have changed a few things but the aspirations which fuel their music have always been a constant in the overriding equation. And why question their artistic ambition? In a period where a disturbing number of artists choose to settle into their relative comfort zones when creating a second album, this band’s ever-focused approach renders them open to acclaim and respect. This is an album driven by its unerring intensity, purposeful variety and haunting beauty. Life-affirming stuff.

Life Processes Tracklisting:

1. Welcome To The Moment (The Rest Of Your Life)
2. We Are Grey Matter
3. A Prospector Can Dream
4. Spring Is A Condition
5. Don’t Reinvent What You Don't Understand
6. Some Buildings
7. Breaking Standing
8. Gravity & Heat
9. Fosbury In Discontent
10. A Shadow Is A Shadow Is A Shadow
11. Spanish Triangles