Come on, Rick

Now, out of my, I dunno, 20 favorite LPs of the year so far, there are probably 3 or 4 that could in any meaningful way be called rock. So there's really no reason you should trust me when I make a statement like this. But here goes anyways:

I saw Future of the Left live last night and they are, like McLusky before them, the best rock band in the world.

Their album from this year, Travels with Myself and Another is a huge step from the already awesome Curses, and the songs sounded even better live, aided by Falco and Kelson's inimitable banter. But you don't go see the show for the banter, obviously, you go see it for the noise and the ferocity and the tunes and god damn, man, god damn. This Kelson Mathias feller is one fuck of a bass player, what you might call muscular basslines this guy has. And you know Falco and Jack from the mighty Mclusky and they still kick just as much ass they did in that band (and look very much on their way to becoming better).

It takes a mean rock band to be funny as hell and not be a joke.