Saturday, February 18, 2006

Top 20 of 2005, #17: Feel-Invisible Train

(Apologies for the low-res cover; it was the best I could find for this largely overlooked release).

Another gem from last year was Invisible Train, the second album by the LA-based band Feel. The main man behind Feel is Scott Sax, a sought-after session musician who was once part of the legendary power pop band Wanderlust. Feel is more mellow-sounding than Wanderlust, and that's not a bad thing. Notable tracks include "This Moment", which sounds like early-period solo McCartney, "Fall", a truly wonderful ballad evocative of Bread, and my favorite of the bunch, "Goodbye Baby", which is the best slow Tom Petty song that he never wrote. If you're in the mood for more pop than power, this is one to add to your collection.

Various tracks from Invisible Train can be sampled (and bought) at the Not Lame link above, as well as at the band's site. They do have a myspace page, which streams "Oh Life" from Invisible Train, as well as "Got Your Name On It" from their debut album. And as plugged in to things as I can be, somehow I didn't know that Feel has recently released an EP of new material until I discovered it at their site while putting together this post. Unfortunately, the paypal link to buy it is down at the moment. Ye gads - I might actually be forced to use snail mail to order it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Must admit I bought this one as soon it was available on Not Lame, gave it a few spins and couldn't really get into it. Quite a bit different than the previous Feel album. Maybe I'll pull it out and give it another shot.

BTW, Steve, have you given a listen to the latest Elbow album (Leaders of the Free World)? Doesn't fall into the Power Pop category but one of my favorites of last year. Awesome album, and quite overlooked. Needs a bigger audience.

Really enjoying the blog. Please keep it coming. You are performing a very valuable service!