- Release date:
- July 8, 2008
- Artist/Band name:
- Feral Children
- Record label:
- Sarathan
- Official Web Site:
- http://www.myspace.com/feralchildrenseattle
Backstory: The debut record by this Seattle collective, led by co-vocalists Jim Cotton and Jeff Keenan, has already earned the band some Modest Mouse–sized buzz in the Pacific Northwest. Add a hot producer (Scott Colburn, of Animal Collective and Arcade Fire fame) and incendiary live show, and, well, is this the dawn of Seattle Music 2.0?
Why you should care: First of all, all those Modest Mouse comparisons? Too true, from some of the vocal tics to the band’s overall offbeat indie pop backdrop. But lacking MM’s recent polish (and budget), Cotton and Keenan are free to also experiment, alternately screeching, speed mumbling, yelping and moaning at various points in the 12 tracks on “Last Frontier,” adding to the album’s already chaotic state. A typical track like “Jaundice Giraffe” plods along slowly, adds some ominous background screams and then suddenly breaks out into an Arcade Fire percussive journey—as the vocal duo comments on how “they love your yellow skin.”
Verdict: Modest Mouse may have built the template, but the chaos and percussive power here is more akin to an early And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. Promising stuff.
X-Factor: “Feral children” are human children that are abandoned in nature and oftentimes raised by animals.
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