If you're an indie rock band and you want to play up the garage punk influences in your music, you would think having
Ty Segall as producer would be the way to go. But a listen to 2019's
Post Earth, the second album from
Feels, suggests maybe the formula is more complicated than that.
Segall produced
Feels' self-titled 2016 debut album, which was a likable bit of pop-leaning indie rock with a seriously garage-centric undertow. But
Tim Green was in the producer's chair for
Post Earth, and this music sounds sharper, tighter, and distinctly punkier than the debut, with the garage moves more natural and the guitar crosstalk more expressive in round two. Of course, having more experience under their belt likely has more to do with the more robust attack on
Post Earth than anything else, but the relative clarity of
Green's engineering and mix does flatter this music, and the guitar interplay of
Laena Geronimo and
Shannon Lay benefits from the cleaner audio, as simple chiming meets skronky noise and turns out to make a handsome couple.
Geronimo's lead vocals and
Lay's harmonies are superbly sweet and sour here, with just enough bite to tone down the sugar, and
Amy Allen's bass (she also contributes backing vocals) and
Michael Rudes' drumming are concise and propulsive, giving the songs a sturdy foundation as the tuneful but expressively angular melodies fold out in an effective manner. On numbers like "Tollbooth" and "Deconstructed,"
Feels can tear into a song with the joyous fury of old-school hardcore without losing sight of their pop sensibilities, while they can explore their more languid side on "Find a Way" and still maintain focus.
Post Earth is a step up all around for
Feels, and refreshingly demonstrates they don't need a garage-pop prodigy on board to make an album worth hearing.