The Feelies: "Should Be Gone"

To say the Feelies have influenced a huge chunk of today’s indie rock output is an understatement—not only are they still occasionally namedropped by today’s young musicians, but they’re a well-known influence on hallmarks like R.E.M.’s I.R.S. work and Weezer (1994). A direct influence, sure, but also an indirect one; their nervous, chiming guitar work and clipped vocals have been woven seamlessly into the fabric of so much of today’s music, and, like it or not, the decidedly un-rock-n-roll trend of wearing nerdy horn-rimmed glasses and sweater vests seems more vibrant than ever.

Not content to simply coast by on accolades forever, the Feelies, who regrouped to tour in the summer of 2008, will release Here Before this spring, their first LP since 1991’s Time for a Witness. The freshly released track “Should Be Gone” demonstrates a remarkable consistency: they may look older, their geekiness less fashionable, but their core sound remains intact. Which may be due to a slow-gestating creative climb, one that resulted in only four albums in a twelve-year run, but it’s hard to deny the impression of a career cut short for arbitrary reasons. The Feelies so obviously have more to offer, I mean.

It also helps that they’ve aged gracefully. Never sexy or glamorous, their music was intense, oblique, and nervous from the start; now it’s grown into something more relaxed but still subtly dark.

“Should Be Gone” has that old spirit, despite the lyrical content: “Trying to recall / What was so great,” Glen Mercer sings, making for a terse, tongue-in-cheek exploration of their reunion, full of uncertainty about picking up where they left off in 1991. Mercer’s voice has gained a nice, Tom Petty-ish texture, and the guitars, more Only Life (1988) than Crazy Rhythms (1980), offer that especially blissful kind of bittersweet jangle-pop. A sweep of “ahhs” backs the self-deprecating chorus, all “Should be gone / Been too long.” Minimalist as ever, it peters out in a minor key of the not-quite-satisfying variety, a Feelies specialty if ever there was one.

“Should Be Gone” presents a band with no intention of making some kind of bold statement. They seem ambivalent about their decision to get back into the game, so they’re going at it quietly, sticking to what they do best. It’s comfortable, yes, but then again, during a time when the band may start to seem indistinguishable from those they’ve influenced, there’s nothing quite like the real thing.