Feels - Father Name (EP Review)

The first thirteen seconds of "Misfortune Fingers," the first track off of Feels' EP, Father Name, will quickly make you think "what the fuck?" before transitioning seamlessly into an instrumental sequence that leaves you confused, yet yearning for more of what they've given to you. They deliver through and through, with the next utterance of lyrics haunted by repeated falsetto echoes. Feels knows the ins and outs of the element of surprise. Each song disjointed by multiple bridges of percussion interludes, organ riffs, or time signature shifts adds to the steadily increasing level of shock value each song compounds upon one another. And for more than a few of the tracks, after the main body of the song is finished, and after a short silence, another thirty seconds or minute of music is played that's only vaguely harmonically connected to the rest of the song. 

It feels like their music is as surprising to them as it is to us, in a comfortable and light-hearted way. It's the sort of EP that continually delivers on the sonic urges that inhabit our ears; where if you get a little bored with one riff, just give them ten seconds and they'll be sure to have changed the entire mood of the song, thrown you off kilter, and left you aching for some more boring stability.

Stability is one thing that Feels was not trying to achieve in Father Name. "Audibly Free Forever," the third track from the EP, starts with an endlessly modulating piano floating around and raising in pitch and rhythmic intention until landing on the instrumental hook that carries the rest of the song. Feels has a true "feel" for this sort of harmonic and rhythmic meander. Each song is a few different songs mashed into one, layered over one another, picking melodic lines from one and a rhythmic beat from another until the song has a world of its own with endless possibilities and a surprise around every corner.

Feels is a Grizzly Bear/Tame Impala crossbreed mixed with a splash of Pink Floyd. The turns of musical phrase in their EP Father Name are succinct, surprising, and worth a listen if you're willing to let this group of musicians confuse you for a few moments in each of their songs before picking you up, dusting you off, and leaving you with some sweet sounds resonating in your ears.