Meantime (2004) – The Futureheads

An inebriated overdriven bass stumbles into a pub to challenge a couple of guitars to a brawl. The guitars hurl insults from either side of the room. Chairs begin to fly as the drums kick in. A spastic one-note guitar riff, reminiscent of Devo, pogos from side-to-side to get a better view of the fracas.

“Meantime” is the gleeful soundtrack to roisterous hooligans skipping around a mosh pit as a prelude to a festival of fisticuffs after a football match. In keeping with this confrontational theme, vocalist Barry Hyde preempts the facade of small talk to get candid with a social gadfly he finds vexing: “And you thought that I was joking / when I said you were a moron / When I said it I was smiling / so you thought that I was joking.” Them’s fighin’ words. In casting aspersions, Hyde comes off as impudent, yet offers a diplomatic explanation for his hostility: despite Hyde’s attempts to be civil, the guy is a recidivist nuisance, perhaps with a narcissistic need to be the center of attention. Well, in that case, the guy’s askin’ for it.

Listen to "Meantime" and purchase at iTunes Music Store.