The Feelies fill a spot in rock history between the guitar drone and deadpan delivery of the Velvet Underground and the exuberant guitar pop of R.E.M.
When they released their first album in 1980 (available at first only as an English import – odd for a Jersey band ) there was nothing quite like them.
The music was jangling and insistent, with rhythms upon rhythms; but what was truly out of place was their glasses and nerdy demeanor. Such bands now of course are commonplace, but back then were nearly nonexistent.
The band was initially as ephemeral as the music, as if it sped right up to oblivion, breaking up after 12 years and four albums.
But, miraculously reunited in 2008 they turned up some strong songs with their 2011 “Here Before.” And Wednesday at the 9:30 Club they rang forth at not an easy gig – house band for a craft brewers’ conference in the city. Fully half the people quaffing the goods of sponsoring Dogfish Head might not have ever heard of them.
“Indie rock,” one woman tried to explain to her husband.
(The other half of course were big Feelies fans, who might have also been at the club just seven months ago when they sold it out).
The crime about the Feelies is not only that they are not more widely known, but even among their fans, they may be best known for covers. So despite five albums of strong guitar pop, people are yelling for the covers they’ve done throughout their career, from “Dancing Barefoot,” to “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (Except for Me and My Monkey),” the tour de force from their debut album.
I’m here to say the new songs have matured like the band – they’re not quite so speedy as to make them feel jittery any more. But they are also dedicated to solid melodies and a soundscape that tends to build up and fade out; songs don’t so much come to a climax as they do circle and land. And the old songs, from the stately near instrumental “Raised Eyebrows” to “High Road” and “The Last Roundup” still sound great.
But yes, the covers are outstanding. And in addition to their standard nod to Neil Young (this time, “Don’t Cry No Tears”), the band made sure to honor the touchstones on either side of them, with a Velvet Underground’s “There She Goes Again” in the first of two sets, and an R.E.M. nugget kicking off possibly the best encore group of encore songs I’ve ever heard: The exuberant “Shaking Through” followed by Bob Dylan’s “Seven Days” and Television’s “See No Evil.” Pow!
A second encore took up the 60s pillars, with The Beatles’ “She Said She Said” paired with an explosive version of the Rolling Stones’ “Get Off of My Cloud.” And in the final encore, the percussive song from their first album, “Crazy Rhythms,” with not only drummer Stanley Demski, and the percussionist who sits beside him as if at a kids’ table, Dave Weckerman, but also the whacking of a third bass drum by bassist Brenda Sauter, who was brought in a quarter century ago because of musicianship and relative social skills – she’s the one who says thanks at the end of the songs.
Hilarously, the rest of the band still seems a little nervous, and about as young as they were in the 80s. Lead singer Glenn Mercer plays lead like a worm in oversized Ray Bans, Bill Million’s wild hair has only turned grey to distinguish him from a generation back. Both of them do this thing where in the middle of some deep rhythms they’ll jump backwards and hop around the stage briefly like stunned jackrabbits.
The double drummers are more contrasting than those in the Allman Brothers. Even after all these years both are still a little timid with the sticks and therefore a little behind the beat, which can be charming. Demeski with his balding grey hair trimmed close looks like nothing more than a mortgage banker; he smiles in the middle of songs when they’ve caught a particular groove as if he’s just closed a pleasing deal.
Beside him, though, Weckerman, always too big a guy for his small drum kit, looks as if he’s been sentenced to hit woodblocks the rest of his life and therefore looks as dour as can be. Visually, they’re as fun to watch as the nervous guitar duo in the front, a kind of anti-power duo who still act surprise what they can get out of their guitars and tiny vintage amps.
The 9:30 show was a success, because they won over an audience and made fans adore them all over again.