A noise-oriented punk band with some artsy experimental tendencies, Year Future leavens their screamo attack with unexpected elements like heavy dub basslines and gothy keyboard textures, with influences ranging from Fugazi and early Sonic Youth to Public Image Ltd. and Dead Can Dance. Something of a post-hardcore supergroup, Year Future is led by singer and lyricist Sonny Kay, formerly of Angel Hair and the VSS and also the owner of the estimable Gold Standard Labs label, home of the Mars Volta and others. Kay formed Year Future in 2003 with guitarist Rocky Crane (formerly of Creeps on Candy and Dead & Gone), drummer Jim Andersen (Talk Is Poison, the Pattern), and bassist Sam Ott. The Year Future EP was released at the end of 2003, followed by the more polished The Hidden Hand in the fall of 2004. Prior to the start of sessions for Year Future's full-length debut, Ott and Andersen left the band, eventually replaced by bassist Pete Lyman (Living Science Foundation) and drummer Chris Hathwell, who splits his time between Year Future and his own band, the moody post-punk outfit Moving Units. Hathwell's other commitments, Kay's label duties, and a full tour slate delayed the recording and release of Year Future's debut album, First World Fever, until May 2006. ~ Stewart Mason