Sunderland-spawned indie-rocking four-piece The Futureheads have parted company with their label, 679, after shifting only (!?) 32,000 copies of their latest long-player, News And Tributes.
Be fair, though: their debut's sold over five times that figure.
Singer Barry Cullen told BBC 6Music that he's perfectly happy about the band's departure:
"I'm over the moon about it to be honest with you, 'cos I feel like we're free now. We weren't happy as a band on that label. It's good to get out of the shackles of being tied down to something. I think it's put us in a very strong position 'cos we're still a band that people like."
The Futureheads begin their UK tour on Saturday (November 25) in Preston. If they wanted to sign with DiS for their third album, we can offer them two pints each and a two-for-one lunch (we pay for two, they get four, yay!) at the DiS local as an 'advance'. That, or we'll get 'em a Sub of the Day each.
Speaking of which, I need to eat. See you in sixty...
Saw this coming a mile off
Especially when only two singles were released.
Still, if The Futureheads get dropped....
....think how many other bands must be shitting themselves about their second albums!
Shocking news...
... I can't believe you eat at Subway!
The Futureheads get very same-y very quickly (I've seen them live twice and got bored both times) so I think their 6-figure unti-shifting status was always limited. That said, who have 679 signed that can shift more?
Kano?
I imagine he's sold a few.
Isn't/Aren't the Streets on 679?
Exactly!
Exactly!
Dropped?
By 679? Jesus... Mystery Jets watch out... Proper shame that though, there were loads of better singles on that album other than worry about it later. Fantastic album as well. The only reason it didn't sell is that it wasn't another 'The Futureheads' So we got the automatic instead...
Who the fuck is..
Barry cullen?
,,
To be honest I find the fact that they got dropped pretty shocking. I mean what chance do a band have if they can sell 32.000 copies of an album and STILL get dropped?!?!? Noone could say that wasn't a big selling album. if every band was dropped whose second album didn't sell as well as their debut we wouldn't have too many bands around.
It didn't help
...that the recent singles had crappy B-sides that weren't worth buying.
There were three great B-sides on the reissue of Decent Days and Nights - but you had to buy three formats to get them. Record companies don't help themselves.
But BAH to 679. Idiots. Wish I had a label right now...
PS
You probably meant Barry Hyde.
I remember
there was an article in the Observer around the time of the NME tour w/Futureheads that referred to him as Graham Hyde. A Sheffield Wednesday midfielder if I'm not mistaken?
679
have made a load of people redundant recently too, I hear. Exactly how much did they put into Kano's promotion for little reward (or at least less reward than number 12 album News And Tributes), I wonder.
fools
that second album's a belter.
that is
terrible terrible news. im sure they will get another deal though. i mean, DOGS did!!
Someone said they heard people talking about this in a recird shop
a while back. Or I was just imagining things.
record shop*
yep rounders in brighton
was that there shop.
Yeah that's the one
I go there all the time.
Yeah I prefer it to the first.
Anyway, is it just me or was the promotion for the second album really bad? I mean when their debut came out, I remember not really being able to get away from them for a few months, and then hardly anyone even knows they have a second album.
Anyway good luck to them, one of the best bands I have ever seen live.
679 Pop music
haven't 679 just signed some pop bands?
noooooooooooooooooo!!!
nooooooooooooooo!
They did the best cover version of hounds of love ever!!!
Yeah, cuz that's like, their BEST SONG EVERRRR!!!!!!111 x
The second album is a funny one. Its not as immediate as the first, and took me a while to get into. I was initially disappointed but now I love it.
But I agree that they were probably dropped because they didn't do a repeat of their debut. Or another Kate Bush cover maybe *rolls eyes*
All sac and no balls
The first album was great, but surely the second album was only precisely 1/5 as good, as the sales have reflected? I mean, it was all sac and no balls.
It's all been worked out on pie-charts.
It's the science of the music business.
Which in itself sounds like the subject of a Futureheads song...
679 records don't exactly have the golden touch
They've got a load of decent artists, but when did
M Craft
King Creosote
Mystery Jets
The Earlies
Kano
ever sell a bucketload? They've even still got DFA 1979 as a going concern on their website. Should we expect an end-of-season clearout?
(hopefully not before the next Earlies album)