Review Summary: Though it isn’t perfect, it’s easy to see why Feeder’s third album found its way into everyone’s CD player (player, player, player…)
As an unsophisticated rock band from South Wales whose members were all in their thirties, Feeder probably didn’t expect to become mainstream chart darlings – but that’s exactly what happened in 2001 with their third album
Echo Park. The band’s previous offering, 1999’s
Yesterday Went Too Soon, saw them take their songwriting in a more radio-friendly direction while keeping the heaviness and energy of their earliest releases (1997’s
Polythene and the two EPs that preceded it,
Two Colours and
Swim). With
Echo Park, Feeder followed that direction to its logical endpoint, serving up tightly-crafted pop pigs in gritty rock blankets and entering the UK Albums Chart at #5 as a result.
Echo Park was and still is Feeder’s most experimental studio album, with singer/guitarist Grant Nicholas working closely with producer Gil Norton to create a more ambitious record than what the band had done before. The sharp riffs and heavily effected lead guitars of the first two albums are still there, but this time they’re joined by synthesisers, tape effects and distorted vocals among other things. The tight rhythm work from bassist Taka Hirose and drummer Jon Lee is what holds all these elements together and ensures they don’t interrupt the flow of the album – the best example of this is the opening track "Standing on the Edge", which somehow jumps from edgy industrial beats to a 1960s pop chorus without feeling awkward or forced. In addition, the synths complement rather than overshadow the other instruments in the mix, particularly on the moody ballad "Piece by Piece", which adds trip-hop influences to Feeder’s sonic palette. Though the album doesn’t rock quite as hard as
Polythene or
Yesterday…, it still gets heavy when it wants to, with tracks like "Buck Rogers" and "We Can’t Rewind" following Pixies’ soft verse/loud chorus template to great effect. At the same time, the heaviest song "Bug" feels more like a rough demo than a finished track and is certainly an odd way to end the album, especially coming straight after the excellent ballad "Satellite News".
Despite all the bouncy instrumentals, many of the tracks on
Echo Park explore the same dark lyrical territory as Feeder’s earlier releases – particularly in the area of breakups, as Nicholas himself had been through one shortly before writing the album. "We Can’t Rewind" sees Nicholas expressing hope that he and his ex can remain friends, while "Tell All Your Friends" has him denying responsibility for the breakup:
"Don’t come around pulling me down, telling the world how I let you down/Just tell all your friends I wanna dream with you". The chart hits "Buck Rogers" and "Seven Days in the Sun" might be a lot more tongue-in-cheek than any of Feeder’s past material, but "Satellite News" follows on from older tracks like "Descend" in expressing discontent with reality and a desire to escape. It’s these more personal tracks which end up being the strongest, with the lyrics falling short when Nicholas tries to do much else – mid-album cut "Choke" is an almost patronising song about a wayward young woman, while "Bug" tries to pay homage to 1970s punk rock but just comes off sounding like a cheap imitation.
Released in the era of boybands with the Britpop movement firmly in the rear-view mirror,
Echo Park took what was most appealing about both those scenes and used it to craft one of Feeder’s most engaging albums. Buoyed by their new-found commercial success, the group soon found themselves alongside the Stereophonics, Ash and Muse at the front of a new wave of bands that set the tone for British rock at the turn of the century. Drummer Jon Lee sadly died by suicide less than a year after the album’s release, an event which would inform Feeder’s songwriting for their next two albums (2002’s
Comfort in Sound and 2005’s
Pushing the Senses). Though they’ve carried on releasing music right up to the present day, Feeder will always be best remembered for the albums they put out early in their career – and with songwriting as solid as that found on
Echo Park, it’s not hard to see why.
