The FeelingTwelve Stop and HomeCherrytree/Interscope RecordsOne out of five stars
Initially, I thought The Feeling had done something smart and safe by following in the already paved, promising direction of The Zombies.
Not so.
The Zombies, of course, were that ’60s English pop-rock band that contributed to the hegemony of the British Invasion. They played highly emotive and simplified love-pop songs like the other British boy bands during the time, but they did it so well and convincingly that they made it impossible to disagree with any ridiculous lyric they sang. For instance, the otherwise gut-wrenching line, “Sometimes I feel a little lonely; sometimes I cry at night,” sounds amazingly insightful and natural in the context of The Zombies’ lo-fi sound: Warm, sexy organs; angular, bright guitars; choppy, charged drums; breathy, electrified vocals.
The Feeling, instead, draw their subject matter from the old cesspool of incestuous Fake Love in order to blanket their emotional discontents, all the while set to the background of bland, vapid rock. Imagine Coldplay and Aerosmith doing an album together; then, take that awful hybrid and dip it in some Maroon 5 or Mute Math or some other cute-boy bogus act.
As a result, when The Feeling sings, “I love it when you call, but you never call at all?whoo!” they embarrass everything their optimistically sad-song touches. They are as pathetic and desperate as a 13-year-old boy who steals baseball cards from his local gas station.
I haven’t seen the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie yet, but I’m guessing it will be a disappointment compared to the originals. Hyper technology and glossy, artificial aesthetics rarely make for good art. The same goes for The Feeling’s Twelve Stop and Home. I’ll stick with my VHS copies of TMNT and LPs of The Zombies; at least they offer entertaining pop.