The Amazons - Future Dust

Difficult second album? Yeah, right. If 2017’s self-titled debut laid everything that The Amazons had achieved neatly out on the table, then ‘Future Dust’ sweeps it all away. It’s a record from a group that is less interested in showing where they’ve been, but instead where they could go. A different beast altogether, it shows a band that could very well climb into the top echelons of British rock.

Eighty seconds of build-up leads into a propulsive burst into life on ‘Mother’, before that opener shifts into the high velocity ‘Fuzzy Tree’. Showing early on just what is in store, there’s a confidence in the switching of gears in latest single ‘Doubt It’, it’s dirty blues groove underpinning the scorched earth chorus. It’s simply electrifying at points. Showing a similar lack of fear when it comes to album topics, the band dive into themes of lust, depression and eating disorders - all adding to the overriding feeling that this is a band coming of age.

Amidst all of the thunderstorms, there are the odd moments of calm. ‘All Over Town’ is a ready-made festival anthem, unabashed guitar pop of the sort Mr Ezra would be proud of. At the other end of the spectrum, ‘End Of Wonder’ and ‘Dark Visions’ show a muscularity and ambition that could very well have the Reading band eyeing up the big arenas in the very near future.