FEET - 'English Weather'
New single, ‘English Weather’ sees further exploration into their own sound from promising Coventry quintet, FEET.
I'm not sure FEET even know what kind of band they want to be. Their influences have certainly been lucid in their previous three releases; from the Shame-meets-Maccabees angst of ‘Petty Thieving’ and The Strokes inspired attack on toxic masculinity ‘Macho Macho’ to the gruffly sang indie pop come QOTSA rock out of ‘Back Seat Driver’ there's little musically similar between the three songs but nonetheless there's a retro feel, experimentalism and impeccable song craft that links all three of them together.
However, despite the obvious talent that these Coventry boys obviously possess, there appears to be a lack of identity here. Are they the impeccably cool new kids on the block post punk kids that every band and their dog wants to be at the minute? Or are they the doe-eyed Sundara Karma-style darlings making the ladies swoon and turning the gents onto kimono's? Or are they the balls out, no shits given rock band that the end of ‘Back Seat Driver’ threatens to become. From the evidence of their new single ‘English Weather’, the answer is, typically, neither.
FEET's selling point is that they're versatile. Hell, they've been around for ten minutes - let ‘em find their sound. Whether this Madchester-fuelled funk plod is the one to stick by is definitely up for debate. Unlike the three previous songs, this song doesn't transform into something else out of nowhere. No, this song rigidly sticks to its EMF-style mid tempo baggy groove for its duration and it's dedication to the sound doesn't exactly thrill. It's expertly played, some fantastic funk riffs in the verses and a rhythm section that would make The Stone Roses’ Reni and Mani blush.
But the attempt of Britishness in the lyrics feel cliched and lazy. The opening line "All I want to do is sit alone on purpose sipping a brew" is probably an attempt at humour but it comes off bland and uninspired. The most frustrating thing is that the ability of these boys is clear in this song and their previous three. ‘English Weather’ sounds like something that FEET have just blasted out for fun in rehearsal. That's great, but with the amount of dynamism they've shown in their previous releases, this feels a little forced. Luckily there's still enough here to point to an incredibly promising future. Let's just hope they figure out what kind of future that's gonna be.
Words of James Kitchen
FEET Tour Dates
February
27 Portsmouth Edge of the Wedge
28 Brighton Latest Music Bar
March
01 Sheffield Leadmill
02 Manchester Gullivers
06 Bristol Louisiana
07 London The Lexington - BBC Music Introducing
08 Coventry The Tin Music & Arts
09 Birmingham The Bristol Pear
12 Newcastle Think Tank Underground
13 Glasgow Broadcast
14 Belfast Voodoo
15 Dublin Whelan’s Upstairs