Feet - Band Profile

 
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There’s something quintessentially English about the band Feet. I’m not the first person to point this out, and no doubt I won’t be the last, but if I was asked to describe them, quintessentially English would be my response. This is partly because remind me in some ways of another quintessentially English band, Madness. Both write well-crafted songs about their day to day observations on life, neither of them seems to take themselves too seriously and then there’s the videos and the live performances. There’s also the songs about the English Weather and Dog Walking, and their antics on Feet TV which make you think that if the
In-betweeners had graduated and formed a band it could well be them.

Some of the many glowing reviews of their debut album have made comparisons to Blur, but don’t let that put you off. Musically they sit somewhere between Baggy and Britpop, although they do have their own unique sound which is quite hard to pin down as it chops and changes that much.
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The band have been around since 2016, and they released their first single ‘Petty Thieving’ on Yala Records later that year. The first thing I heard of theirs was English Weather, which came out in April and sounds a bit like Kinky Afro. A month later they released Ad Blue, another catchy little baggy era number.
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Seeing that they were on the bill at All Points East on the Yala stage, I thought I’d check them out live, and promptly made my way over after seeing the Viagra Boys play.

I didn’t really have any huge expectations but I have to say I was blown over. They put on a real show, were an absolute joy to see and I watched the whole thing with a massive smile on my face. Both guitarists and the bassist bounced around the stage with vocalist George merrily cavorting about in his tucked in jeans and hush puppies. Loads of energy and a friendly mass bundle at the end to boot.
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After that display I was looking forward to seeing them again the next month supporting Cage the Elephant at Heaven, but CTE’s careless guitarist managed to break his hand or something and the gig was cancelled. I bought the very last ticket for that gig, and was really looking forward to seeing CTE play in a venue that intimate so was a bit miffed, although the situation was much worse for Feet, who I believe had laid out a load of cash to cover hotel rooms, and would have probably have gained a lot of new fans on that tour.

Feet released three m ore tracks (Outer Rim, Petty Thieving and Dog Walking) in the run up to their debut album 'What’s inside is more than just ham' being released. Have a look at the videos on You Tube via the links below, they’re worth watching. The album was recorded a year ago and originally scheduled for release in August, but release was presumably delayed to coincide with their UK tour.

What’s inside… has undoubtedly one of the worst album covers that I’ve ever seen in my life, the sort of artwork that screams ‘find me in the bargain bin’, but is musically a triumph. Some albums require a few listens to get into, but this one immediately hits the spot and it's already up there as one of the albums of the year for me.

Album opener Good Richard's Crash Landing flits masterfully between Britpop, the Kinks and Indie Rock and is followed by Ad Blue possibly the first (and only) song ever written about the fluid made up of the mix of urea and deionized water that Diesel vehicles need to keep them going, and once used by bassist Oliver to make tea. English Weather is next and then the pace picks up with Petty Thieving, about an associate of the band who believed that if you look clean cut you’ll get away with stealing and Outer Rim.

There’s a bit of a fifties feel in Dog Walking, and Chalet 47 and Axeman saunter along nicely after, before the album’s title track in, a song about the love of a hot dog no less. The album closes with the sound of Hawaiian Guitars gently playing us out on Wiggy Pop with its irreverent lyrics perhaps summing up the album ‘I’m just taking the piss, having a laugh’.

Feet must have thought a lot about the running order on the album as its flows really well. Tracks like Outer Rim and Petty Thieving are standouts on their own but there isn’t a weak track on the album, its just a really well constructed, and handsomely written record.

Feet have a UK tour scheduled for later this month going into November and are well worth the entrance fee. I’m off to see them at Bedford Esquires (supported by Sheafs) and Brighton Patterns, so they better be good! 

Click for Tour Dates    

www.feetband.co.uk