angienic2001's Full Review: Twelve Stops and Home * by The Feeling
Yes, I can see you rolling your eyes right now at the lame introduction. But at the same time, I think it’s sorta fitting. For you see, new British group the Feeling could be considered “lame” as well by some out there. They dress weird, with 70s-esque hairdos and old-fashioned clothing. They’ve been compared to some of those “cheesy” 70s bands like ELO or Supertramp or the Carpenters. They started out as a covers band, singing one-hit wonder songs from the 80s, for crying out loud. Not exactly things the “cool” rock crowd would normally applaud, as others here have noted. But for those of us who revel in our inner geek, a band like the Feeling is worth cheering about.
I was first introduced to these guys last year, when I heard “Never Be Lonely” on one of my favorite music channels. That stuttering “B-b-b-baby, I think I’m going c-c-c-crazy” chorus and those perfect backing harmonies latched onto me and just would not let go. Upon hearing “Sewn” (which is getting some decent airplay on channels such as VH1 right now, hooray), with its singalong-worthy “Na, na, na, na”s and random funny lines from lead singer Dan Gillespie-Sells such as, “Danny boy, don’t be afraid/To shake that @ss and misbehave”, that settled it-I knew I had to see what else these guys had to offer. Color me impressed. The Feeling’s debut album Twelve Stops and Home features 12 tracks that alternate between introspective beauty and ridiculously peppy fun.
Just how peppy, you ask? Well, take a look at “Fill My Little World”, “I Want You Now”, and “Love It When You Call”. These songs all employ things such as jaunty musical moments (most of which are courtesy of pianist Ciaran Jeremiah), backing chants of nonsense like “Ba, ba, da”, and choruses that practically demand you to belt them out. I love all these songs, but my favorite of the three is “Love It When You Call”. The song’s got a musical backing that pops more than the “pop” portion of Rice Krispies cereal. It utilizes a bouncy synth bit that sounds like a leftover from one of those aforementioned 80s one-hit wonder bands. The guitar and bass work of Kevin Jeremiah and Richard Jones, respectively and the “bop-your-head” chorus conjure up images of a scene from a teen movie, with somebody in their room, or skipping merrily down the street, chewing bubblegum and dancing to this. In lesser hands, a song of that description could get very grating, but I have yet to even remotely tire of this song, and that’s what makes the Feeling so good. It’s so clear that these guys paid attention as to what qualities make a band’s best songs click.
They also seem to have paid attention to the contrast those great pop bands were so adept at, for this song’s got upbeat music and utterly charming backing vocals gleefully proclaiming that “He loves it when you call”. against some not-so-cheerful lyrics that deal with that age-old “Why hasn’t he/she called me?” dilemma. And as the album progesses, you will notice that that sort of contrast is a common thing. The Feeling won’t flat out depress you with their words, but the lyrics do deal with topics such as lost love and isolation (seen in songs such as, respectively, the uber-pretty “Kettle’s On”, where Dan’s pleading lament for a loved one to come home makes me want to just give the poor man a hug and keep him company until that person either friggin’ calls him or comes back, and “Strange”, with its message of facing alienation head on that anybody could relate to), as well as the ways some people deal with those sorts of issues. “Helicopter” and “Rose” are examples of that last topic: the former, with its quirky piano and slightly off-kilter vocals in the chorus as well as a rocking (yes, I said rocking) bit at the end that makes the song sound like what would happen if the Beatles and Queen got together, gives one the image of said helicopter that the narrator hopes will take him away from his troubles; and the latter's lyrics tell a tale of drinking to forget your problems.
Speaking of “Rose”, that’s probably my favorite song off the entire album, due in large part to the music. Ciaran provides an absolutely gorgeous piano throughout , and Paul Stewart’s drumbeats sound like the kind you’d hear in a slow dance, lending the song an oddly romantic feel. In some ways it reminds me of Evanescence’s “My Immortal”, the version that starts off with just a piano, and then the rest of the band kicked in. The Feeling do a similar thing here, but where I preferred the Evanescence song without the extra instruments, I don’t mind the full band treatment from the Feeling on their song, as that adds to the lyrics, I think (though I certainly would not be opposed to hearing a piano-only version).
As further proof that these guys do know how to slow things down, we have “Same Old Stuff", the swaying “Blue Piccadilly”, complete with a rousing chorus of “La, la, la, la”ing at the end, and the alt-country feel of “Anyone”. The last song is probably my least favorite one if I were forced to pick-it’s not a bad song by any means, heavens no; it just doesn’t get to me the same way the other songs here do. That said, I’d love to hear one or both of the Finn brothers (masters of the pop tune in their own right) tackle it, as it sounds right up their alley. So no worries-the Feeling have made sure their bases are covered to appeal to all sorts of people. At the end of the day, though, these guys aren’t about to apologize for their pop roots, and quite frankly, I like that-it’s a refreshing change from the sometimes snobby attitude that permeates music.
I once stated that if the rest of these guys’ music lived up to “Never Be Lonely”, I would be keeping an eye on them. Seeing as they did (and then some), and given their great attitude about music in general, I’m staying true to my word. They’ve got me very interested to see what they come up with next. Once more with (the) feeling!
Okay, seriously, I’m done now.
My Top 5 Picks (absolute favorite onward):
1. Rose
2. Sewn/Love It When You Call (yes, it’s a tie. Sue me, I had a hard time picking)
3. Kettle’s On
4. Helicopter
5. Never Be Lonely
Great Music To Play While: Trying to construct your own great pop song.
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