The beginning of this century/millennium saw the so-called ‘return of rock’ as indie-rock acts such as The Strokes & Kings of Leon hit it big. But that was a long time ago, and these days it’s all about synthesizers, keyboard, MIDI, moogs, etc. – if it can be programmed & played on your lap, it’s seemingly more important than fuddy-duddy guitars. So lots of already great indie-rock bands have been picking up keyboards for their new albums (see Phoenix’s Bankrupt! – QRO review – Shout Out Louds’ Optica – QRO review – or Ra Ra Riot’s Beta Love – QRO review). Generally, while the records have been good, even great, they’ve not been what the band did/does best – and that continues with the should-have-broken-out Features on their new self-titled record.
When people called the Kings of Leon ‘the Southern Strokes’, that was out of a hope that Confederate alt-rock would join in the rising wave – let it not be forgotten that the great alternative band out there came from Dixie (QRO album review, in case you did forget…). However, outside of a couple of always exceptions college towns, the South is still mostly producing hip-hop and country-rock, and gems like Tennessee’s Features haven’t gotten the attention they’re due for great albums like 2011’s Wilderness (QRO review) and 2009’s Some Kind of Salvation (QRO review). Perhaps that’s why the band decided to pick up electronics for The Features.
Now, there is still the Suthron alt-rock that The Features have done so well on the new record – it’s just that it’s often laid above or mixed into synth beats. Sometimes this works well, with just the right amount on “This Disorder”, or a slyer disco behind “The New Romantic”. But then there are times where it just feels random and unnecessary, like the keys at the end of the otherwise southern alt-rock song about the Devil, “Won’t Be Long”, and certainly the utterly out of left field beat-stop “Ain’t No Wonder”.
Synthesizers are all the rage these days, and maybe it’s only Luddites who hold fast to guitars, but the South is known for its appreciation of the past, and The Features could have used a bit more of it.
The Features – This Disorder
