Album Review: Feeder -Torpedo (2022, Big Teeth)

Torpedo-digital-1

I had heard of, but never heard Feeder. Even though they have been around for a few years, their latest album, Torpedo, released back in March from their pandemic backlog material, is the first to reach my ears.

The duo gets right to the point from the get go on this album full of redemptive intentions. Opener “The Healing” calls for people to unite and work towards a better state of affairs. But to be honest, it could have been lifted out of Al Gore’s mouth and flash frozen back in 2002. It is about as effective a Demolition Man as Stallone was – surprisingly fresh every 25 years. While I recognize the sentiments and any urgent attention is good attention, when the message is wrapped in the sugary lyrics, it is a bit much, especially in the midst of a pandemic. Especially given we had, over these decades, torpedoed repeated plans to tackle actual contributors of the clusterfuck we find ourselves in like climate catastrophe, habitat destruction, etc. A call-to-arms from the backdrop of international tours within the resource sapping frenzy of pop concerts seem a somewhat cynical route for promoting unity.

Maybe I misunderstand the entire perspective. (Power) grunge has always been a mystery to me: how can hyper-charged guitar riffs be a good medium for anything else but a call for triple -scripts of Adderall? Where is the dynamic potential for a range of expressions, when one is already flying in the stratosphere? Every twist and turn seems the same high altitude bank in a 747: however unexpected, always stately and safely within the parameters of a commercial jet flying predetermined waypoints. I do think “Decompress” and “Slow Strings” deserve mention, not because they are quieter, but because they are intentional and purposeful. The lyrics don’t improve much in interpretive depth, however.

To summarize: a blast from the past isn’t a bad thing. But I would leave this for the special occasion when I’ve run out of every other guilty pleasures that I could resonate with.

Posted on by Gary in Albums, Reviews