Fresh from a top-five placement in the ‘Battle of The Bands’ competition to support Only The Poets at O2 Brixton, Feral Family are back with blistering new ‘mini album’ ‘…So Far Behind.’ The Yorkshire three-piece comprised of Jamie Lowe (Vocals, Bass), Oscar Woods (Guitar, Additional Vocals) and Regan Grimson (Drums, Additional Vocals) are staking their claim as Britain’s next underground export with cinematic, sci-fi-indebted indie despair.
Opener ‘The Balance’ chugs along with a jagged riff slicing through distorted bass, as the missing link between Interpol and IST IST. It feels DIY, overhearing a promising rehearsal from the next room, familiarly gloomy yet ready for stadiums.
‘Endless Night’ is driven by Grimson’s urgent drumming, ringing guitar lines and Lowe’s desperate vocals that maintains their anxious rush. Following track ‘Taste of Life’ is slow-burning with industrial guitar clanging alongside its rhythm section for a brief reprieve from headphone-filling noise that doesn’t feel tonally jarring. ‘Feels So Right’ follows the same template, with droning, reverbed guitars bursting at the seams with Editors’ style staccato only broken by Lowe’s baritone vocals.
‘Catalina’ slows proceedings once again, Lowe’s vocals floating across jangled guitars before breaking into Second Coming-era Stone Roses power crossed with Palma Violets energy that subdues itself slightly to retain intimacy. Continuing to side-step expectations, closer ‘Down In The Dirt’ opens with finger-picked guitar and Lowe’s despairing vocals, like an apocalyptic campfire song. It gradually layers, adding Sergio Leone-style guitar, growing louder and louder until it swells into droning anhedonia. A true highlight that wouldn’t be out of place in Soundgarden’s repertoire.
Throughout ‘…So Far Behind’ Feral Family prove why they’ve been shortlisted by KEXP. While running the risk of sounding muddied and blending into a saturated indie rock scene, Feral Family deftly defy expectations by crafting suffered-in worlds of desolation. It is no surprise they’ve found support from Radio 6 tastemaker Steve Lamacq; Feral Family are rhythmic, bourdon post-punk for the end of the world.
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