Review - Feeder - Silent Cry

Feeder are a constant for my musical pallet having been introduced to them during the later years of my high school tuition, they represented a point in my life that a few other bands, namely Travis, Coldplay, Linkin Park and Papa Roach, will occupy for giving me my first own bands, ones that I sought out my self, found my self, and fell in love with (and out of love with) along with many of my friends. In fact, Colin, who I blog with, also rates Feeder quite highly and owns many of their early albums (if not all). I however, only have two in my collection. Yesterday Went too Soon and Polythene, so you should be able to guess from those two records where my opinions lie on their most recent bought of records.

Comfort in Sound is not the album I wanted from Feeder. It was neither loud nor exciting as most of the melancholy arrangements were obviously inspired partly by the suicide of drummer John Lee but it also felt like a left over of the previous couple of albums. Grant and Taka were beginning to run a little on fumes and whilst their spirited rocking out on Godzilla and Come Back Around sounded loud, live they paled to Insomnia, Buck Rodgers and the in-between single Just A Day. With 2005s Pushing the Senses doing nothing to convince me otherwise and the band reaching for the Coldplay/Keane/Snow Patrol heights of late noughties selling out to the epic over produced masses seemed to turn on all the older fans who were there in beginning. The became middle of the road and Grant's skills as a songwriter probably benefited from the rise into success but gave fans a little kick knock down.

So, seeing them live in late 2005 gave me hope. They performed mostly from their older albums, including High, and seemed enthusiastic about louder material, and in 2006, Grant did announce that the next album would be "heavier". I had been burned once before and amazingly Feeder have delivered not an amazing record, but a return to form that I never expected. From the first song you must fear the worst - We Are the People is potentially their worst single, and sets the album up for a fall but from there on in, with Itsumo, Miss You and Tracing Lines following packing punches you wonder where did they pull this from? These are some of the best feeder tracks since Yesterday Went to Soon and indeed seem to pushing to replace it. The lyrics are still a little insipid but as the guitar work and hooks are expertly pushed around you smile for the return of an old friend

The album sound like a sigh of relief. No longer fighting for the commercial success or the fans they needed, Feeder are able to spread their wings and self produce this album (just like YWTS) and it feels like suddenly Grant has realised not only what he enjoyed to write but also what the fans need - good, 4 minute pop rock songs, and while Silent Cry is not exactly the best album of the year, it is a fantastic record to listen to on a summery day and try to forget that whole "Dove Grey Sands" rubbish from the last album. Stick on Polythene, YWTS, Echo Park, Swim, and Silent Cry and they flow together well. Feeder, Mark I, are back.

7/9

Feeder Official Website
Feeder Myspace

6Shuffle - 27/02/08

In My Arms by Mylo from Destroy Rock and Roll
Okay, so we have a problem – I have never heard this track before and while I have the album in my library it was taken from a musical “society” where we share music from out respective collection, so I have not listened to the album or even the singles yet. This track samples Betty Davis Eyes as a good riff in the background, but in all action, nothing really happens, so I don’t know if it sounds better with the rest of the albums.

The Long and Winding Road by The Beatles from Let it Be… Naked
Recently I have been listening a lot to early The Beatles, from Please Please Me, With the Beatles, Beatles for Sale and Abbey Road, but have not started to listen to this later music yet. I love the early Beatles, they sound so fresh even today, and the albums, especially With the Beatles, are so funky and 60s sounding, with more melodies that the whole of the chart right now, they make for great early morning, and Monday morning music. This is a classic track, but the exact kind of Beatles track I hate – I know it so much more from everywhere else rather than my own discovery, it feels out of context. The production on this track is very scattered, and rather unsettling, and is taken from the re-released version of the album that strips away all the ridiculous production of the original.

Patty Lee by Les Savy Fav from Lets Stay Friends
I had heard this track well before I knew who Les Savy Fav were, I had even tried to learn it on the guitar. This, from their latest album, is very exciting, and has some excellent lyrics with exactly the kind of music I have been wanting to get into – critically acclaimed but still outside the mainstream. They are close to being a subject of a discovery post by either me or Colin – he included the track that follows this song in his first Monday Mix. I am still deciding on the band, but they seem like a good driving-song band. Along with a few other new recommendations, such like Neutral Milk Hotel, 65daysofstatic and Broken Records, these bands will make up fair portion of my listening homework of the next few weeks.

Airbag (WMA) by Radiohead from OK Computer
Radiohead have been subject to my ranting on my personal blog a few times, mostly about their more recent output – but this album, and indeed this track, even for an album that is 11 years old, still sound absolutely seminal, with songs that have still be to equalled, and a cohesive record that Radiohead have only last year came close to reaching again. It hints at the future of a band, that when you are reminded of the climate in music (Oasis, Spice Girls, Blur and B*Witched) you can’t believe the impact it had, who would venture in unknown and unwanted territory without even a sideways glance at the commercial successes they were achieving with their alternative rock, and gave 1990s rock its biggest question; Old Radiohead or New Radiohead?

Ways & Means by Snow Patrol from Final Straw
Another band who probably have more in a hand for the creation of this blog than I can really credit them with, this track is my favourite from their break through album. The slowly spoken and droning vocals have more in common with the band’s original ouput rather than their epic popness that the recnt album lends to. The dark song, with close to a lack of a tune, has a brooding melody hidden underneath the screaming guitars and crashing cymbals and a story is told using these in a way that stands taller than any other tracks on the album Run included.

68 State by Gorillaz from D-Sides
Taken from the outcuts album that followed Demon Days, this instrumental track is included in an album that not only is odd, but also has moments of sheer genius that shows just how much creativity is still bibbling underneath the surface in Damon Albarn’s repitore. I loved the first album, and love the second album also, and this, a sequel of sorts to G-Sides, the album that was released after the eponymous debut (G-Sides for Gorillaz, D-Sides for Demon Days). There are a few tracks on here that are sketches (like this one) and others that are stand out should-have-been-album-tracks, like We Are Happy Landfill, Bill Murray and People, a song that uses everything from Dare except the vocals, putting lyrics over it, giving a track that sounds more like 19-2000 than the original. Got Demon Days? Pick this up, it is a very interesting aside.

Bonus Seventh Track – It Takes Time to Build by Beastie Boys from To the Five Boroughs