FEELRS – Silver Chains
The point about punk rock was that it always represented liberty. Now, that sounds vague, and it is, of course, something that people will say about other genres that they fancy. But I am sure I’m right about this.
Most other genres, from extreme metal to biker rock to glam metal, involve plenty more musical and fashion restrictions. Fail to live up to them, and nobody who is in the scene that you’re trying to appeal to will want to see your show.
Sure, punk rock had an important element of fashion or non-fashion, but its main selling point was that songs were simple, punchy, and, at the best of times, felt like someone spontaneously beginning to do what was most natural to them. It was so simple and natural, in fact, that it had no time for the rules that rock n’ roll had created for itself.
FEELRS sound like people who’ve been forced to sit in detention or work in an office as accountants all day and who, when getting a hold of their instruments, bring all that pent-up energy to the music without thinking of it twice. “Silver Chains” talks about mental blockages and burdens and then defeats all of them all one power chord at the time.
The band resembles FIDLAR, of course, and that’s a good thing. Many of us need that energy, and it’d be impossible for these bands to hold on to it forever. FEELRS have found it, and for as long as they have it, we should enjoy it.
Speed Therapy – Glass Eye
Have you ever seen one of those disaster movies set in space where the crew knows that they’re doomed, but the real disaster only occurs sometime at the end of Act II? Without fault, for the first part of the movie, the crew must still keep themselves busy with their chores. They play chess, remain physically active, and share stories about their families back home. Then, “Bang!”
That’s how a lot of people in Western, rich countries see the world right now. It’s all a mad dash toward perfection, they think, that is ultimately useless because the house of cards is going to come down any moment. Their anxiety is, sometimes, our listening pleasure. In recent times, post-punk bands have been filled with charm and great angst.
Speed Therapy is one of the many impressive post-punk bands of the moment and one of the few to have not come out of the grimy English streets. No, they’re American musicians, and the constant diet of celebrity culture and self-improvement routines are doing their head in. “Glass Eye” sounds like the fantasy of someone stuck in an office job. They’ll either sell everything and move to Guatemala (please, oh, not Costa Rica), or they’ll wind up on the new pretty soon with neighbours saying about them: “They used to be so quiet though!”
