The Feelies: In Between

Jeff Tamarkin on April 25, 2017

The Feelies have always been mercurial; it’s hard to get a solid feel for them, if you will. In their original incarnation, from 1976-92, they virtually invented the lo-fi, indie chill-rock that has since been taken up by countless others. They always made it sound so effortless. A couple of busily strummed chords over all sorts of—to borrow their debut album’s title—crazy rhythms. The Feelies’ earliest tunes seemed to emerge from some kind of mysterious mist rather than the minds of determined songwriters, yet they embedded themselves the first time out and the hundredth, too. After a hiatus that lasted close to two decades, founders Glenn Mercer and Bill Million—primary songwriters and guitarists both—put the band back together with bassist Brenda Sauter and drummer/percussionist Dave Weckerman, and damn if they don’t sound like they’ve been away for a weekend. In Between will be instantly familiar to the devoted and as good an intro as any to the uninitiated. The title track—both opening the album acoustically and closing it, droning-Velvets style—is the perfect summation of how the band makes the most of its limited sonic range, while mid-album tracks, like the elegiac “Pass the Time” and the soaring psychedelia of “Gone, Gone, Gone,” burnish the legend.

Artist: The Feelies
Album: In Between
Label: Bar/None