Music |
The Feelies
By
Published: Apr 20, 2011
Category:
Rock
Full attention, please. We have come to pay homage to The Feelies.
It’s safe to say very few of you know them. Well, that’s almost by design. This band formed in suburban New Jersey in 1976. In the ‘80s, they released — very quietly — four records, each causing modest swooning. By 1988, when they put out “Only Life,” savvy critics were calling them “the best underrated band in America.” [To buy “Only Life” from Amazon, click here.]
And then they went on hiatus.
For 19 years.
Then they came back, with “Here Before.” [To buy the CD, click here. For the MP3 download, click here.]
Already certain ideas are occurring to you. Those titles — could they be more laconic, more ironic? That subterranean status — could it have been what the band wanted? Detached excellence — could that have been their point?
These are the opening lines of the new CD, from a song called — two words again — “Nobody Knows.”
Is it too late
to do it again?
Or should we wait
another ten?
To pose that question is delicious arrogance, isn’t it? But self-assurance is a given in Feelieland. These are supremely confident nerds of the art school breed: mostly tall, skinny, bespectacled, with a seriously talented female bass player who joined the band long before that move was chic. Stage presence? Casual. In the extreme. At one of their rare — thus: historic — concerts, when they crank the tempo and build to something like a rave, they have been known to jerk around, sometimes bouncing, even jumping. Smiles? Banter? Never happened.
So it’s really all about the music, isn’t it? Here it gets thorny, because words turn into salad here. The Feelies influenced R.E.M. and were influenced by Lou Reed, but they’re far more subtle and sophisticated than either. And even that’s not quite accurate, because their music seems so simple — it’s built on three guitars. There are two drummers, but it’s not as if they’re loud. What, then, is the big deal?
But let me stop reaching. Let’s just listen.
See — I mean: hear — what I mean? Why I’m crazy for The Feelies. And why I’m hopeful for your life once you have them near. Instant heavy rotation is the least of it. You will, I predict, press them on friends. Give them as presents. Play them at parties. (Caution: Dancing may break out.) Hum the melodies on the street.
The only question: Which CD to buy? You might start with “Only Life.” And then again, if you buy one, you’ll end up buying the other. Because, really, once you let this stuff into your head, you’re hooked. Proof that not all addiction is bad.
BONUS VIDEO
Here’s the entire CD of “Only Life.”
