Feeder applies songcraft across a well drilled range of loud-quiet, indie-rock that mixes in punk, grunge and a good dose of pop. Their music isn’t intended to impress or test the listener - the idea is to surrender to it and go with the flow. Celebrating the release of a new album Torpedo, there’s plenty of Feeder Fodder here to tuck into. What are you waiting for, take a ride…
It’s been a while, but it is always good to have Feeder back on the scene. A new Feeder record is always an uncomplicated treat, great fuel with which to feed the beast - that ever-hungry-for-a-music-fix soul of yours. If music is the food of life, then feed me Feeder fodder. Of course, it’s always intriguing to see what flavour of Feeder you’ll have served up, so to speak. From across their usual range of loud-quiet, indie-rock mixing in punk, grunge and a good dose of pop. The band sometimes tens to dial up one of those ingredients and dial down others. On the new album Torpedo it’s grunge to the fore - big juicy riffs and rollicking drums - one for the gym, a big drive or a run around the park. Perhaps a vinyl spin when every one else is out of the house. Good news too - Torpedo is a sort of first course - a primavera, with a ‘secondi’ to follow later on 2022. Like buses, you wait ages…etc.
I first ‘discovered’ Feeder through their classic 2002 album Comfort in Sound. I heard it at a demo playback of ‘super audio CD’, then a brand new industry format that alas, never took off. The album did however. Comfort in Sound was that rare thing, a whole record drenched in grief that became a commercial success - its Feeder’s biggest selling album to date. Those opening chords to ‘Just The Way I’m Feeling’ really connected with me, but when I took time to listen to the record in full, I only then realised that the album contains a set of songs that Nicholas wrote as catharsis from his grief, following the tragic death of Feeder’s original drummer Jon Lee. The album turned out to be a great comfort to me. My Dad passed away late in 2001 and I played the album on heavy rotation. As such, it means a lot that I could thank its creator in person.
When I met Grant Nicholas for the Art of Longevity podcast, I was thrilled to hear about the prospect of Feeder touring ‘Comfort in Sound’ in full - something Grant has clearly considered before:
“It’s something we have been asked to do but I wouldn’t over-milk it…I’d want it to be really special for the fans and for us…maybe some real strings, just a couple of nights or something, maybe for the 20 anniversary”.
If this ever happens I’ll see you on the front row - you don’t want to miss it. Even for non-Feeder fans that particular record stands alone in their catalogue as potentially appealing to a much wider audience. With superb production by Gil Norton, Comfort in Sound is a start-to-finish immersive listening experience that features great playing and an expansive, epic sound the band hasn’t quite matched (and it’s possible they stopped trying after their next album). I suppose that’s why it has outsold the band's other material and was the album that jettisoned them to the arena circuit.
When I saw the band a few years later at Brixton Academy, it was to support their follow-up album Pushing the Senses - another good record that pushed the band towards a more commercial sound somewhere between the Foo Fighters and Coldplay. I remember the upper circle shaking at the fans moshed from wherever they were, including the seats and the balcony. I think from then on I became a lifelong fan.
The band might not be everybody’s cup of tea and for many, remain in the second tier when compared with the big league - those Britpop era UK bands or there punk-pop-rock counterparts that sprung up all over America during the 90s and became huger than huge. That does them a disservice I feel, because Grant Nicholas writes such solid, reliable songs that you can always play Feeder records countless times until they stick, whether that be driving fast down the motorway or pushing yourself to the limits in the gym. To the uninitiated, Feeder might come across as formulaic rock and I can understand that. Lyrically and ‘riffically’, the band does draw on cliche sometimes, but that’s beside the point, because the music isn’t intended to be about impressing or testing the listener. The idea is to surrender to it and go with the flow.
For the time being, I’ll be giving Torpedo plenty of plays and time to sink in, but it is very reassuring to not have to wait too long before another Feeder record. In case you are set to savour the delights of one of the UK’s most enduring and endearing rock bands, I put this playlist together and called it Feeder Fodder. It will showcase their songcraft - across their usual range of loud-quiet, indie-rock that mixes in punk, grunge and a good dose of pop. Plenty for you to tuck into.