Clocking in at just 2 minutes and forty-one seconds, ‘The Future Is Not What It Was’, the new single from The Clockworks, immediately makes it clear this is a band with a future, built on the genes of a very admirable past.
The angular, stop/start delivery is reminiscent of the very best of the post punk eighties, the passion and the vigour echoes compatriots The Murder Capital and Fontaines DC while the rippling guitars create a unique wash of sound. And the lyrics are blunt and direct. James McGregor from the band says:
This song is about trying to bring together two main ideas: The feeling that everywhere you look things are going wrong, to the point of cynicism, and the way that the idea of the future is better that its reality. Art and articles in the past would talk about 2020 and expect us to be driving flying cars in houses that clean themselves where nobody has to work. In reality we’re driving third hand Fiat Punto’s to 9-5’s that barely pay the rent. I guess the point is that the lifestyle may change but a lot of the problems are the same.
The band has just released a video in advance of the release of the track on 12 June 2020 through Creation23, the new label from Alan McGee. It’s not surprising that this band caught the ear of the legendary McGee given the fine wielding of punk sensibility and commercial accessibility:
This is mighty, embracing music – danceable guitar-driven punk with a melody and a message.
The Clockworks are a four-piece from Galway comprising James McGregor on Vocals/Guitar, Sean Connelly on Guitar, Damian Greaney on Drums and Tom Freeman on bass.
