Crucial Track for January 17, 2026

"Failed Olympic Bid" by Future of the Left

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#365songs (17 / 365)

It's kind of surprising that two of my favorite songs on Future of the Left's third album The Plot Against Common Sense are the ones in which Andrew Falkous sings in exactly one pitch for the entire song (the other being "A Guide to Men") — though, perhaps it shouldn't be. After all, this is the man who sing-shouted "Freedom from notes" in the chorus of "Arming Eritrea" on their last album... but once again, I'm digressing.

I actually debated with myself whether to write about "A Guide to Men," which has one of my favorite lines on Plot ("History is written by the man who stays acquainted with the thug who has the biggest sword") but "Failed Olympic Bid" has more of what makes Future of the Left great. The I-don't-know-how-many-octaves synth riff that underpins the whole thing is classic FotL, straddling the line between catchy and annoying, and it gives the rest of the band something to lock the fuck in over, and they do that. Even aside from the monotone vocals, pretty much everyone here is doing something very simple. The guitar riff is basically two notes and the drums are following it; the bass isn't doing anything fancy either. I don't know. Maybe making my own music without being good enough at any instruments to do fancy shit has given me a deeper appreciation for music that so successfully becomes more than the sum of its parts.

And I haven't even talked about Falco's lyrics, a high point in any good FotL song, which are in fine form here even though I don't know where Rotherham is, or when (or if) (or where) there was an actual failed Olympic bid in England, or who Sebastian Coe is. Doesn't matter! (In my defense I do know who Saddam Hussein is.) If Falco is being snide over some noisy-ass rock music, I'm happy. And when I'm listening to "Failed Olympic Bid" I'm very happy.