When I went to see Kings Of Leon at the Carling Academy, Brixton shortly before Christmas last year, I wasn't very impressed with their support band - The Features. Dull, samey and lacking inspiration was my conclusion. Who says first impressions last?
Famously cited by the Kings Of Leon as "the band we listen to", The Features have released their debut album 'Exhibit A' through Universal Records on 18th April. And what an album it is. 14 tracks, inspired by twins and a massive 33 minutes.
Lasting a fraction over two minutes, opening and title track 'Exhibit A' introduces the flavour of the album with lashings of guitar pop topped up with raw punk supplements. 'The Way It's Meant To Be' (again a fraction over two minutes) shows us the main inspiration of the album - guitar/vocalist Matt Pelham's twin daughters - by using the lyrics:
"gonna stand right by your side,
wipe your nose and dry your eyes,
zip your dress and tie your shoes,
there's nothing I won't do,
gonna love you til I die,
cos I am yours and you are mine.
And that's the way it's meant to be."
And then we are treated to the fabulous 'Me & The Skirts' which is guitar pop at its beautiful best. A lively, funky, up-tempo song with a feeling of insanity and if ever there was a song to make your feet itchy for dancing, this is it. Be quick though, it's only two and a half minutes long.
'Blow It Out' follows - a stupendous single based on a nursey rhyme (there's that inspiration again) making it not only irritatingly catchy in a wonderful way, but impossible not to like. Pelham's use of the childish lyrics 'if you're happy and you know it' naturally beg the addition of 'clap your hands' as per the nursery rhyme, but instead we are instructed to 'turn the volume up and blow it out'. Clever, effective and, since you half expect to hear 'and you really want to show it', infuriating. Three brilliant minutes.
Ploughing onward through more cutlets of guitar pop such as 'Exorcising Demons' in which Pelham wails "demons" in a charming yet supernatural way, Exhibit A throws up 'Harder To Ignore' which, although starting a bit like something Queen might have written, turns on its head and brings that manic feeling back into the fray. And then there's 'Circus' in which Parrish Yaw's keyboards provide the atmos of fairground rock.
Despite being a mere 33 minutes long, this album is a guitar pop-lovers must. Best album of the year so far.
For more information you can visit: http://www.thefeatures.com
|
