OUT TODAY! Forty Foot Release FIFA Worthy Alt Rock Anthem ‘Toothache’ – (Irish 90’s Alt Rock/Grunge)
The double guitar and drum stabs that open ‘Toothache’, the new single from Dublin based alt rock band Forty Foot, are an instant statement of intent, right before the band grabs you by the collar and throws you around the room. Some bands want to write a song like the bands that adorned their walls as teenagers, or support a big touring act, Forty Foot approached this track with a different ambition. To craft a track powerful enough to earn a spot on the soundtrack of EA Sports’ iconic football video game FIFA, a launchpad for many emerging artists the band has come to admire. With ‘Toothache’, a quintessential 90’s tinged alt rock track, they might have done just that.
Formed in 2019 following the sudden death of a close friend and collaborator the band choose their name as a tribute to him. The band have spent the last four years honouring their friend by putting out a collection of singles that have caught the sharpened ears of the Irish music press, earning them accolades from Hot Press (Track of the Day), Golden Plec and Indie Buddie. The bands intuitive writing process, that chases a feeling before anything, bore the fruit of ‘Toothache’.
From the outset the track is laden with hooks; the stabs that sound like the police pounding on your door, to the drippy, watery chorus drenched lead line from Mark on lead guitar, to Sam’s melodic vocals that act as counterpoint lightning rod against the pounding drums and dimed distortion pedals. The track is just waiting to have a sea of bodies, lost in the dreamy distortion and effects, throwing themselves around in reckless abandon. Keith’s fuzz bass underpins everything, acting as a circadian rhythm for the track, the constant pulse in the verses that opens up to drive the choruses. When asked about the meaning of the track and where the lyrics stemmed from Sam says the music and feeling helps shape the words, almost presenting them to him as they craft the track. As to meaning, band’s atypical cryptic lyrics offer layers of meaning open to interrupt, only willing to offer “It’s a track about things that happen in the nighttime hours, let’s leave it at that.” The chorus’s reprise of ‘body breaking’ lodges in your head, and lives there for days to come.
The production on the song is massive and powerful, but doesn’t lack nuance. Each sound, each instrument, given its own space and plays a significant part in creating their sound. The song conjures a feeling and a sense that the band are right there, in the room with you, with each chord you can almost feel the air the speakers move. To capture their sound and bottle this feeling the band made the decision to record in their own rehearsal space. Turning to long time collaborator Conor McLoughlin of Dublin rock sweethearts Sick Love to engineer and mix the track, it was paramount to the band that it was imbued with the energy of their space.
The art for the track is an X-ray of Keiths teeth before getting them pulled, adding a further personal touch!
‘Toothache’ instantly has its place amongst the Forty Foot discography but it’s the sound of a band pushing themselves, the song writing and production is elevated beyond anything previous. Melodically the band create ear worm hooks without straying into pop territory. A marker of Forty Foots sound is the hooky, melodic and effect laden lead guitar that, here, conjures a heavier Elastica. A massive step forward for the band as they look to the rest of the year and more material to follow.
You can catch the band live:
Sept 19th Dublin, Sin E
Sept 20th Belfast, Oh Yeah Centre