geordieeliot's Full Review: Twelve Stops and Home * by The Feeling
After an extremely unscientific poll it seems to me that a lot of people are unhappy a lot of the time. Its hard to say whether the music charts are a cause or effect of this, but is also true to say that few people are singing about something that makes them happy, and more importantly try to make others happy through their music. For this reason alone ‘The Feeling’ standout like a beacon from the myriad of frankly morose bands out there, while the ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ predict riots, ‘The Feeling’ just ‘Love it When You Call’, to be honest I know which I prefer.
As you may have noticed, ‘Love It When You Call’ is not a particularly rock-y title for a song, which is mostly because ‘The Feeling’ aren’t technically rock, however with ‘pop’ being dominated by identi-kit TV bands and R’n’B’, they have been forced into an area where they are overshadowed by other more ‘in-your-face’ bands. Which is a shame. Instead though ‘The Feeling’ hark back to performers such as Elton John and Supertramp, and have produced an album full of unashamed 3-minute, fun, pop songs, the best of crackle with the raw energy and sense of fun of early Motown.
The stand out track is the Brit-nominated; ‘Fill My Little World’ a lively, jangly summer hit with a great underlying beat, that could have been lifted from any ‘Soft Rock’ band, that on first listen is another jolly pop song, however behind the lively beat is a darker message about unrequited love. It is a song typical of the album. Another fine example is my personally favourite track, ‘Love It When You Call’, again a lively track heavy on the piano (a rarity these days), with a touch of synth and a beat that just makes you smile.
However it is hard to pick out the ‘best’ tracks since ‘The Feeling’ have produced an album that is surprisingly consistent for a debut, from the opener of ‘I Want You Know’ there are twelve tracks here that should make you happy, they are well-crafted, well-played and well written, I could go onto more detail but why? It’s enough to say that for a fairly standard ‘band’ of keyboard, guitarist etc. they are a world away from the other, more dour bands that have broken through at the same time.
That’s what this album is, a disc to make you smile, yes its not deep, but it knows what it is, an album of genuine ‘pop’. Some may class it as lightweight or criticise it for not being ‘gritty’, but I don’t care, it’s very hard to be angry at an album with lyrics like;
‘People gonna hate you, people gonna rate you,
People gonna love you, people gonna shove you…’
Look its not gritty, its not urban, its probably not even particularly ‘cool’. Instead all it is is ‘pop’, its fun, its well-crafted, it’s a high-quality album.
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Getting ready to go out
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