Few bands can claim a career-best album 40 years down the line, but The Feelies are one of them. Granted, this is only their sixth album, but with a focus on quality rather than quantity it should come as no surprise that their sound – very much informed by the Velvet Underground’s third album – has left its indelible mark, from R.E.M.’s earliest efforts through to modern-day practitioners such as Ultimate Painting.
The Feelies’ grip of melody remains very much in place throughout, as do their love of jangling intertwining guitars and a strict sense of rhythm. And although this is an album that is obviously aware of mortality (see Stay The Course and Pass The Time), it’s less about filling time as it is about using it wisely. Indeed as evidenced by the fuzzy and trance-like reprise of In Between, The Feelies can make a little go a long way.
