17
The Feelies
Crazy Rhythms
"The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness" – 5:10
"Fa Cé-La" – 2:04
"Loveless Love" – 5:14
"Forces at Work" – 7:10
"Original Love" – 2:55
"Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:18
"Moscow Nights" – 4:34
"Raised Eyebrows" – 3:00
"Crazy Rhythms" – 6:13
Released in 1980, this album has been cited as a major influence to college rock bands of the mid to late 80's, notably REM.
The appeal of this album to me is its exuberance and the sheer energy oozing from every beat and hook. The opening track, The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness, jitters along at a frenetic pace, the crisp, clean guitar trundling along with the driving percussion to convey the nervous energy the song title is referring to.
I feel this 'nervous energy' sums the album up succinctly, throughout the piece there is an urgency and pace, but it succeeds in delivering the music to the listener in an almost relaxed, sun-kissed manner - it's surprisingly easy to listen to.
Saying that, this relentless energy and pace does not render the album monotonous and over-simple. It is beautifully layered, the guitar work measured and delicate as the percussion adds a dynamic that pushes the music on. A highlight for me is Loveless Love, a song that slowly builds from a slow, reflective tangle of guitars into a pulsating, sorrowful damnation of love, its a beautiful song with excellent guitar work.
There are clear influences from Krautrock and The Velvet Underground on this album, especially in the percussion and Mercer's vocal delivery, its an album that can go from quiet reflection to all out energetic spasm in a second - it is a hugely emotive piece. There are annoying pauses in between songs, maybe thats just my version, but overall, this is an album you can really get lost in, the twin guitar work, at times angular and at others haunting, will soothe you to the core, whilst the drumming is hypnotising... it helps that every song is a melodic gem too.