Loading home…
The Features make my stomach churn something awful. Like a vice grip slowly tightening around my guts, the pain is becoming unbearable. No, no… don’t take that the wrong way, now. I absolutely love The Features. LOVE THEM. We’re not talking about repulsion or gag reflexes here (my indie rock vomit is reserved for acts such as - oh, off the top of my head - The Decemberists). It’s more of a centralized, acute anxiety thing… like an agitated ulcer that makes you feel all trembly and weak. All I know is that The Features have had my stomach in knots for a long, long time now and recently it’s been getting pretty bad. Let me explain... Everyone, and I mean every single person on planet earth, should know The Features. Grandiose hyperbole aside, their music is the perfect combo of smart songwriting, uncomplicated - yet clever - structure, huge melodies and precise musicianship. While there is a timelessness and familiarity to their art, The Features never tread that dirty water of sounding cliché or unoriginal. The Features are, in my opinion, the best band making music today. The Best, hands down. Of course, I’ve held this opinion for right at a decade now, and that’s why my guts are all tight and achey. For the past 10 years, I, along with a relatively small number of individuals (maybe 1000?), have followed The Features with a fervent and devoted passion. We’ve championed them amongst the unconverted masses, waiting for the day when the rest of the world could finally be in on our little secret. With fingers crossed, we’ve witnessed all the ups and all the downs - every road block and dead end - knowing that if there were any justice or sanity in this world, The Features would receive the acclaim and popularity they’ve always deserved. At the very least, quit their day jobs and do what they were meant to do. Second chances are rare, especially in the rapidly-evolving music industry. Hell, first chances are a huge rarity in the music industry. Back in 2004 The Features had their first big chance with their major label debut, Exhibit A. It should come as no surprise that the cavemen at Universal Records grossly under promoted the record and subsequently dropped the band after it refused to cover The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” for a Chase credit card commercial and their probable next single. The next several years brought a slight line-up change, some downtime to regroup, the excellent self-released Contrast EP, and a televised double-victory in the UK at the Diesel-U Music Awards. By early 2008, they were once again firing at full capacity, bringing the heat to every concert stage they stepped onto, leaving the crowds drenched in sweat and hoarse from singing along as they clamoring for more, more, MORE. If ever one band ever deserved a second chance, it was The Features. Enter Kings of Leon, ridiculously famous rock band and fellow Features obsessives. Earlier this Summer, The Kings partnered with Bug Music to start a new vanity imprint, 429 Records. Their first release? The Features’ second LP, Some Kind of Salvation. While the record has been available via the band’s merch for the roughly the past year, 429 has repressed and distributed it throughout the US, giving our beloved Features a much-deserved second chance. My fingers are still crossed, while my GI tract is in knots. Seems I believe in this band more than I ever have. For their Lake Fever Session, The Features performed four of the tracks of Some Kind of Salvation: Baby’s Hammer, All I Ask and the one-two punch of Whatever Gets You By & The Drawing Board. Knowing that this band deserved a big hullabaloo, we brought in some of our favorite young brass and string players from here in Nashville to augment the tunes as they are on the record (a huge thank-you to all of you, by the way… we are indebted to your service!!!). In addition, we adorned the studio with as much freaky folk art we could collectively assemble and an entire wedding’s worth of flowers (literally… I just happened to get hitched one week before). We hope you like it. Oh and you should be sure to check back with us in six weeks or so as we’ll be posting a companion video shot during this session. We invited a small mob of friends and fans to join the band in session for a rousing, gang-vocal version of their standard show-closing anthem, Thursday. We’ll be sending that out to y’all in October. So sit back, cut the lights, click that video to full screen, and turn it up as loud as you can. It’s time for the Features… The Best Band On The Planet. Best, Joe Baine Colvert