The Wild Feathers - The Wild Feathers (21/03/2014)
Nashville's The Wild Feathers released their self-titled debut album last year, unleashing a mixture of classic rock'n'roll that brings the listener back to an easier time when there was only one genre in rock.
Needless to say, the band does blend together a wide array of musical influences, (their use of a riff from Led Zeppelin's Trampled Under Foot in Backwards Company is unmistakable) but what could've ended up feeling like a shameless patchwork of artistic plagiarism instead feels so natural that you're surprised you had to wait until 2013 for someone to blend these genres together quite so flawlessly.
The album features 12 tracks that sway between Southern rock inspired anthems like the opening track, Backwoods Company, to more country inspired lyric driven tales of hurt and lost loves, like Left My Woman and If You Don't Love Me.
It is a well structured album that makes the songs overlap and intertwine so it feels like each individual song is merely telling a chapter in the overarching story that is being told throughout the album. It's not quite as far as say Pink Floyd's The Wall or anything done by Ayreon in terms of a concept album, but it does feel like a logical flow throughout the album rather than coming across like a random composite of tracks intended for singles and radio play.
With this self-titled album, The Wild Feathers delivered one of the strongest debut's of 2013. It will be interesting to see where they take their musical journey from here but they've most definitely made a debut that would convince even the most cynical rock fan that there's something special about this American quintet. Something worth keeping an eye on in the future.
Kris Solberg
Needless to say, the band does blend together a wide array of musical influences, (their use of a riff from Led Zeppelin's Trampled Under Foot in Backwards Company is unmistakable) but what could've ended up feeling like a shameless patchwork of artistic plagiarism instead feels so natural that you're surprised you had to wait until 2013 for someone to blend these genres together quite so flawlessly.
The album features 12 tracks that sway between Southern rock inspired anthems like the opening track, Backwoods Company, to more country inspired lyric driven tales of hurt and lost loves, like Left My Woman and If You Don't Love Me.
It is a well structured album that makes the songs overlap and intertwine so it feels like each individual song is merely telling a chapter in the overarching story that is being told throughout the album. It's not quite as far as say Pink Floyd's The Wall or anything done by Ayreon in terms of a concept album, but it does feel like a logical flow throughout the album rather than coming across like a random composite of tracks intended for singles and radio play.
With this self-titled album, The Wild Feathers delivered one of the strongest debut's of 2013. It will be interesting to see where they take their musical journey from here but they've most definitely made a debut that would convince even the most cynical rock fan that there's something special about this American quintet. Something worth keeping an eye on in the future.
Kris Solberg