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<\/a>The Feelies<\/p><\/div>\n
It\u2019s every rock musician\u2019s dream to hit the big time, right? Sign a lucrative record contract. Go on world tours. Fight off groupies. And someday, with a little luck, find yourself on the cover of the Rolling Stone<\/em>. That may be the stereotype, but it\u2019s not every musician\u2019s fantasy. What Glenn Mercer cares about is his music. Expressing himself. Having a creative outlet that gives him (and lots of others) enjoyment. When Glenn\u2019s band, The Feelies<\/a>, plays at The Sinclair in Cambridge this Friday, Boston music fans will have the opportunity to hear what that perspective translates into.<\/p>\n The Feelies\u2019 brand of highly energetic, polyrhythmic thought-rock, replete with dueling guitars that mix as beautifully as vermouth and gin, is 100% original. Their songs, built on an evolved garage-band base that swoops to dizzy heights of complexity and, at times, all-out frenzy, are in many ways the progenitors of the indie rock movement that has followed. But Friday\u2019s show isn\u2019t going to be a history lesson. It\u2019s going to be a blast.<\/p>\n Mercer and the band\u2019s other members have been making and playing music for decades. The Feelies\u2019 first album, Crazy Rhythms<\/em>, was released in 1980. At that time, they were youngsters playing to wildly enthusiastic audiences in New York and on their native soil in northern New Jersey. Feelies shows at Maxwell\u2019s in Hoboken were affairs of state, where the band\u2019s faithful (from both sides of the Hudson) gathered to pay homage to the coolest sound they\u2019d ever heard. The Feelies didn\u2019t play classic rock. They didn\u2019t play punk. Or new wave. Or no wave. Or any of the other splinter genres that were in various states of germination at that time. They just took to the stage, looking more like a college debate team than a rock band, and played Feelies songs. Their fans couldn\u2019t get enough.<\/p>\n But the band\u2019s original cast didn\u2019t stay together. Despite the rave reviews the band received almost from the beginning, Crazy Rhythms<\/em> didn\u2019t sell as well as it deserved to. And The Feelies weren\u2019t keen on playing night after night just to promote record sales. Two of the band\u2019s members eventually left to do other things, while Mercer, rhythm guitarist Bill Million and drummer Dave Weckerman veered off into other directions themselves, first in the form of a Mercer-Million offshoot band called The Willies and later all together with The Trypes, where they teamed up with current Feelies band members Brenda Sauter (bass) and Stan Demeski (drums).<\/p>\n In 1985, these five re-formed The Feelies and released a new album, The Good Earth<\/em>. A somewhat quieter and more reflective album than Crazy Rhythms, it was another potent demonstration of the band\u2019s interest in layering together progressive patterns of rock sound. Three years later, another record appeared, Only Life<\/em>, and in 1991 Time for a Witness <\/em>came out. The band, signed by then on A&M Records, was soon playing to bigger audiences and even did a tour with Lou Reed. But in the summer of 1991, with members of the band starting families and the rigors of being a 1990\u2019s rock band taking their toll, Million lost interest. He packed up and went to Florida and the remaining band members moved on to other pursuits.<\/p>\n Seventeen years passed. The idea of reuniting had been discussed periodically. But it didn\u2019t gel until one day when Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth talked to Mercer and Million about getting The Feelies back together for a very special show. He wanted them to open for Sonic Youth at New York\u2019s River to River festival in Battery Park. The guys agreed to do it. To prepare, Mercer, Million, Weckerman, Sauter and Demeski returned to Maxwell\u2019s, where they made magic all over again in the form of four sellout shows. The Feelies were back.<\/p>\n Since then, the band has continued to perform sporadically, mostly in the northeast. In 2011, they released an album of new material, Here Before<\/em>, which picked up right where their earlier records left off. Its tight, exuberant songs have introduced a whole new generation of fans to their music.<\/p>\n For his part, Mercer is glad that the group\u2019s back together.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been rewarding,\u201d he said, \u201cvery rewarding. Collaborating with Bill again, spending time with all the people in the band, making connections with fans again,. It\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n This Friday, The Feelies are coming back to Boston\u2014albeit a few months later than planned. They\u2019d been scheduled to perform on April 19th, that dark day during which the city stood still for 18-plus hours. The search for alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had not only brought life in Beantown to a halt, it had led to the cancellation of The Feelies\u2019 scheduled show, as well. Five months later, Boston finally gets it chance to reacquaint itself with this immensely talented group of musicians. If you\u2019re planning to go, I suggest you get your tickets well in advance. Feelies shows routinely sell out.<\/p>\n What can you expect on Friday? Somewhere between 2 \u00bd and 3 hours of scintillating rock with Demeski driving the drums, Sauter pumping out the bass line, Weckerman banging away on drums, triangles, wood blocks and anything else that isn\u2019t nailed down, and the magically intertwining guitar work of Million and Mercer. Don\u2019t expect a lot of chit-chat between songs, though; The Feelies are first and foremost committed musicians. They don\u2019t so stand-up. It\u2019s nothing personal\u2014they\u2019re just trying to put on a great show.<\/p>\n In this interview, which was conducted a week before the show, Glenn Mercer talks about the band\u2019s beginnings, playing The Feelies\u2019 first-ever show at CBGB\u2019s, how rewarding the band\u2019s reunion has been to him personally, and how much he\u2019s enjoyed reconnecting with the band\u2019s fans\u2014and making new ones.<\/p>\n You may already be one of them. If you\u2019re not (yet), I guarantee you will be if you attend Friday\u2019s show.<\/p>\n Get your tickets and event info HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n Listen to the interview with Glenn Mercer HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n (It’s a big file coming from a small server — give it 30 seconds or so to download.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"