It’s something miraculous when the stars align and come through with a band that really delivers, that taps into some collective consciousness and offers a much-welcomed refreshment like the sweet kiss of commercial air conditioning on a summer’s day. Feels is honestly, in my opinion, the band we need right now, and their self-titled debut is one of the most exciting releases of the year so far. This is not the first time I’ve written up a group on Castle Face records, and it won’t be the last time (because they’re just really sending quality content into the cosmos at the moment). There just seems to be something in the California water giving bands like Feels super powers. Flying faster than a speeding bullet, and making music with both effortless smooth and sandpaper grit, it’s Feels’ debut. Oh, and it’s produced by none other than actual mastermind Ty Segall.
Don’t be disoriented when you realize you’ve been playing the whole album on a loop for about three hours. Feels blurs the line between daydream and hallucination; it skates through Venice Beach yet keeps a Kim Gordon-y cool and garage gravel. The debut crests and crashes instantly from the starting notes with their exuberant single “Close My Eyes,” and you’re shot through the barrel at top speed with an energy that spans the album from riotous (see: “Play It Cool,” a surf punk gem and my favorite track) to rapturous. Seriously badass vocalist/guitarist Laena Geronimo’s voice sails over top fuzzy, trippy soundscapes with an impossibly breezy power and presence, dancing alongside guitarist-vocalist Shannon Lay’s variety of sonic hard candy: crunchy and sweet.
Admittedly, there’s an overwhelmingly large spot in my heart for dynamic, female-driven bands, especially in the ever-growing sphere of punk, lo-fi, and the like; Feels has successfully rendered the enigmatic concoction of force, emotion, humor, and depth that, for me, marks such bands. There’s an underlying joy that comes with taking in this record regardless of whether the song is decidedly happy, sad, or in between. Feels has successfully let the world know: they’re in the business of putting out music with personality and proverbial oxygen in the lungs, which, simply put, feels right with the spirit.
You can stream Feels’ self-titled here and buy a super sick “sugar” vinyl here.
