Crazy Rhythms
by The Feelies

A New York indie album of its time through and through. It's all there; Television's spooling guitar lines, the nervous energy of the Talking Heads, The Lou Reed (and occasionally Iggy Pop) vocal inflections, and more than a hint of the 60s freak folk that kicked all this off. (Edited)

'Crazy Rhythms' is a folk-rock and 'bubblegum' classic. The overall sound is icy and alienating, like an android clone of the Byrds. The playing is almost amateurish in its simplicity of delivery but paradoxically geometrically complex in its structure. The strumming guitars are played frantically, whilst the melodies have the feeling of being electronically 'processed' to create a neurotic rhythm and decadent minimilist trance that has delusions of the Velvet Underground with hints of Jonathan Richman. The jingle-jangle of British guitar bands of the 1980s like Orange Juice, the Only Ones and the Pooh Sticks clearly adopted the Feelies approach. But what sets 'Crazy Rhythms' apart is the fluency with which the band merge traditional genres such as vaudeville and country & western while injecting Eastern pastoral elements allied to lethal doses of the modern elements: bursts of psychedelic guitar, obsessive repetitions of patterns, hypnotic vocals and exasperated percussion. Probably the highlight is the 'acid' jam of the title track. The song combines a demonic quality to tight arrangements which oscillate between transcendence and ecstatic detached decadence. It also appears as a kind of alien 'drama' without climax or end. The vocal harmonies are humble, and the sound so ascetic as to be sometimes more similar to the Gregorian canon than to rock music.

From Jimmy Dread TOP 100 COMMENTER 09/23/2015 18:25 | #150311 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Anyone who describes one of the most exciting and hypnotic jams of the 80s (i.e. the title track) as "(a) song (that) combines a demonic quality to tight arrangements which oscillate between transcendence and ecstatic detached decadence" needs to get out more.



(Edited)

"Raised Eyebrows" is just about the most teenage song of all time.

I think this is a solid record and minor classic. The Feelies blend Krautrock with some American sensibilities, kicking off the 80's by shaping the Alt Rock that was to come.

The vocal performances are lacklustre, which is precisely why they're short in most tracks and the solos do all the talking. Whether that be dueling guitars at a couple moments or Motorik drumming (see title track), there is cohesion and technical proficiency in the roughness. This has aged strangely because it bridges the gap between music time periods.

If you don't mind a touch more exploration and avant-garde elements in your rock this is a fun listen. If NEU heard this, they would be fans, I think.
(Edited)