the feelies - classic or dud?

the carla bley stuff talked about here:
PSF: After the first album, what happened with Stiff?

GLENN: Stiff requested a demo for a second album. They didn't like it. We were doing a lot of home recording, even more in an Eno mode and less like a rock band. Stiff rejected the songs and he just wrote some more. We weren't playing (live) at that point. Anton was playing with the Lounge Lizards, doing live shows. He just called up and said "I quit the band." Then Stiff took that that opportunity to drop the band. One song "The Obediant Atom" was pretty similar to "40 Days" on the first Wake Ooloo record. I think we only had a couple of songs. We really weren't ready to do another record anyway. It was kind of relief actually.

DAVE: We spend three days recording "The Obediant Atom" in Carla Bley's studio. It was an instrumental with some chanting at the end. When Stiff heard that, their hair started falling out. "Is this what the next album is going to sound like?" In the meantime, me and Keith did all the drumming parts. We went to England and played two shows and came home.

GLENN: At one point, they (Stiff) took us into their office and said that we needed a hit single. They played the latest Lene Lovich single. It was like a scene out of a movie. "(Do) something like this- you know, verse-chorus-verse." We just laughed to ourselves and it turned out that it wasn't a hit anyway.

wsj article on the new album here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703858404576214672616456018.html

heyyy, i posted my little feelies family tree sampler over here if anyone's interested: http://ow.ly/4rhcn

Not a bad sample!

didn't even know there was a new album until i read the rolling stone review last night. will buy this if i can find a store that carries it. not an easy task.

yeah, new songs i've heard sound excellent. in the good earth vein, it seems.

i like the wake ooloo stuff. didn't buy the solo album from a few years back. wasn't that kind of an unofficial feelies album? remember something about that. the mercer one.

yeah, pretty much all the feelies played on in it some capacity -- except bill million, i think? it's good, maybe a little snoozy in parts.

Bill Million's on it.
It's a dminishing returns album: starts great, then gets progressively less interesting because it all sounds exactly the same.

million's on the mercer solo album? he isn't listed in the credits ...

Six songs in to the new one before anything really caught my attention. Way Down is pretty good. I find myself wishing they'd done a new Yung Wu album instead.

first impression is there isn't a standout song like "it's only life," but still this is more solid (or maybe just less dated-sounding?) than the last official album

I never really thought any Feelies songs stood out besides maybe their Beatles cover

not to say that they aren't totally classic

the last two songs on the good earth are awesome

plus i'd say the title track of crazy rhythms

"Slow Down" is my favorite thing they ever did, yes.

I always assumed that Slipping Into Something was the stand-out track. It seemed to be the live centerpiece, at least until they started covering Dancing Barefoot..... New album is growing on me. It's definitely more "Good Earth" than anything else. Mentally and chronologically I'm so far from the college kid who flipped over Good Earth...it's a little strange hearing Feelies sounding preserved in amber.

pretty funny reading new interviews with mercer -- guy is not a chatty cathy.

i like this album, but i agree that it's pretty samey.

really enjoying the new record -- no surprise, i guess, but I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would, anyway. Kind of a more easy-going cousin to The Good Earth. Maybe a little too easy-going at times, but mostly a pleasure.

also, interesting feelies related news via the speed the plough website:
As if that’s not enough, we’ve put the final touches on the tracks for the Trypes compilation, which will see the light of day on vinyl and digitally this summer. In addition to all the songs from The Explorer’s Hold, we dug deep into the archives for a collection of songs that span the band’s history, beginning with the original quartet and right up through the final seven-piece combo. Much more about this project in the coming weeks.
totally great news. guess there's a new speed the plough record coming out too! 2011 -- the year of the feelies, haha.

Probably not this summer, but fall hopefully!

so is this going to be an acute release, dan?

Let me get back to you on that one!

i like this mercer quote:
Even though your sound has calmed down some from the early days on record, you always seem to ratchet it up several notches in concert.

Oh, yeah, it’s a totally different environment. It’s hard to describe, but Bill, half-joking, described the genesis one time. A long time ago, we were down in a dressing room and someone offered us a couple of tokes on some really good weed. We got on stage and tried tuning in front of the audience and it was taking forever. We stopped playing, left the stage, went to the dressing room, and spent another ten minutes trying to tune. We went back found it was just as bad as before. So, just to get the set over and done with, we rushed it. And it became our template for our live shows from then on.

http://timeoutboston.com/music-nightlife/music/106619/interview-glenn-mercer-of-the-feelies

Just clicking around I came across this 2008 interview, from just before the show(s?) with Sonic Youth I guess. Million doesn't say anything, Mercer sometimes grumbles something in character (about never having talked with Sonic Youth even though there must have been lots of opportunities: "Maybe they're shy like us". lol).
But also Weckerman talks about just having recorded stuff with Glenn as Yung Wu - all covers of lesser known songs by famous bands. "Mary Ann with the Shaky Hand"! That song has written Feelies/Yung Wu/Trypes all over it. Man, that should be great covers album.

ooh that does sound good.
lol at the stonefaced feelies. so uncomfortable!

Man, I'm so on the fence about the new album. Not the music, per se, but whether I can bring myself to buy it. On the one hand, if ever there were a band I won't download on principle, it's the Feelies. On the other hand, I've pretty much stopped buying music. Hmm ...

I mean, if they toured I'd buy it at the merch stand! But I could be waiting to implement that compromise for a long time.

They are touring right now! The current dates are limited to the Northeast Corridor though.

That's no tour, man. That's, like, four dates.

new album is totally worth your $11.

A longtime friend/fan of the Feelies played me a mix CD he had put together of Yung Wu doing all covers, maybe it was that stuff. They did Into the Valley by The Skids!

Why have you stopped buying music?

It's official. Expanded Trypes vinyl/download on Acute in the Fall.

:D
that is great news. tbh i wish acute had done the feelies reish-es as well!

( & since this thread has been revived, i may as well let y'all know that i just re-posted the "crazy rhythms LIVE" thing over here: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/6143081786/crazy-rhythms-live-heres-another-re-post-by )

Just posted about Speed the Plough's shows and new album on the Acute Blog:

http://acuterecords.com/blog/?p=544

but I can see you've already seen that, Tyler!

Exciting to mention of a show they're doing in a few weeks with Wild Carnation and...Yung Wu! The Yung Wu album just gets better and better every time I listen to it.

whoops, I thought you were liking my post to the Acute facebook account about the shows, not my posting of the Velvets live show!

Tylerw I too have tried to patch a live version of 'Crazy Rhythms' together. You don't happen to have a lossless copy of your mix do you. I'm a bit or a nerd about these kinda things.

ha yes, i like the return of yung wu and speed the plough too!
i don't have a lossless version of that comp, tho i suppose i could make one? not sure...

more stuff -- WeckerFest! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=225693814122335

For some reason I always thought The Feelies were a a jangly Byrds pastiche type band of the new wave era. My misconception has stopped me disovering them till now. Just got into Crazy Rythms and am pleasantly fucking suprised.

Good thing you didn't start with the follow up! It's as good, but more jangly. Loving Crazy Rhythms will help acclimate you!

If you can be bothered Tylerw. I should look back and see if I actually finished my attempt. 'The Obedient Atom' is amazing. Damn shame no studio versions appeared. Anything from that transitional period before 'The Good Earth' would be welcomed as well.

hoping some of that transitional period is documented on dan's trypes reissue! i think things got fairly vague in that period as to what band was what -- the feelies/trypes/willies etc.

Y'know what, I've never heard the Trypes or the Willies. Where's the best place to start given that, as much as I love The Feelies, I've always wanted just a little bit more 'Crazy Rhythms'?

think you gotta wait for the reissues. there's really only one long out of print EP from the trypes called explorer's hold.
i put together a feelies family tree over here with a bunch of side project/related bands: http://ow.ly/4rhcn
but i'd just get the feelies albums proper first...

Good stuff. I'll download and listen over the weekend.

As for the rest of the Feelies catalogue. I have it all. Just listened to the new one for the first time recently. Sounded good. I'm sure I have a Yung Wu boot somewhere that's jam packed full over inspired cover versions.