Venues
Events
MediaMusic
Deep Feelies Fascination
The all-time great Feelies are playing Maxwell’s
| | More
Want to know one of the Internet’s biggest blunders? If you go to the Wikipedia page for “Music of New Jersey,” you see a lot of the expected names, like Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Frank Sinatra, the Four Seasons, and even some unexpected ones, i.e. Skid Row.
But not the Feelies. Seriously, Wikipedia? Skid Row and Bon Jovi, but not the Feelies? I guess it’s only fitting. The band has remained relatively obscure since they formed in 1976, even though R.E.M. has consistently listed them as a major influence and Pitchfork ranked their first album, Crazy Rhythms, #69 on the best albums of the 1980s list.
It’s a shame too, because the Feelies—currently composed of Glenn Mercer, Bill Million, Dave Weckerman, Brenda Sauter and Stanley Demeski—are one of the greatest indie rock bands of all-time, if not one of the best bands altogether. They’re twitchy and nerdy and perpetually nervous and uneasy and often undecipherable and, well, they’re normal. To bring it back to Jersey, they’re the Springsteen of “Growin’ Up,” not a band “Born to Run” (although something tells me they could write a song just as grand). The Feelies play really post-punk (in other words, “art rock”), choosing exotic instruments (woodblocks and cowbells, oh my) over flashy guitar solos. Many of their songs start at 0:00, but you won’t hear anything until 20 seconds in. They also know how to pick a good cover song, including “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)” on the original Rhythms and “Paint It Black” on the remastered version.
And that’s just their first album.
On later releases, like Only Life and 1991′s Time for a Witness, their fourth and final album, the Feelies became a slightly more conventional rock ‘n’ roll band—but that’s not a bad thing. Only Life is my favorite album of theirs, and a track from it, “Higher Ground,” my favorite song. The production got better and it’s a bigger album, but their egos, or lack there of, stayed the same. Even on the album’s cover, they’re still just a group of guys (and later, a girl) standing in front of an old, rotting house. The Feelies are a band you could actually imagine being a part of, like Yo La Tengo, another unappreciated Jersey band. The Feelies are playing for fun and a love of the music, not the paycheck.
And lucky for you, they’re in town. Well, they’re playing at Maxwell’s (1039 Washington St.) in Hoboken, New Jersey, but that’s just a quick PATH train away. It’s a tradition of the band to play at Maxwell’s on major holidays, and what do you know, it’s almost a major holiday! The Feelies will play July 2 and 3 at 9:30 p.m. and Independence Day at 9 p.m. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be inside listening to the Feelies’ play their cover of “What Goes On” than watch the fireworks. After all, fireworks are every year; who knows how many times you’ll be able to see one of the great rock ‘n’ roll bands?
Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased here.