Stills Of The Night
The Stills
Without Feathers
(Vice)
Before we get all misty-eyed about how The Stills mended their flaws heading into their second album, let’s get one thing straight: They needed to.
This wasn’t a mere case of trying to stand out in a crowded retro/indie field — consequently, they sound a lot like Creeper Lagoon now — but their sound barely survived their debut album, much less the here today, gone tomorrow realm of Internet rock criticism. Logic Will Break Your Heart, for what it’s worth, was a servicable mid-major debut with the overwhelming flaw of being repetitive and dull. There were two grand singles, “Still In Love Song” and “Gender Bombs,” but even Hoobastank sports an undeniable riff or two. What we need is sustainability — you wanna be indie? You gotta have nuance.
So The Stills recruit from within and bring Dave Hamelin out from behind the drum kit to co-sing with Tim Fletcher. But that alone doesn’t account for Without Feathers being successful. It’s “The Mountain” being a classic rock song and a good one at that. Hammond organ? Check. Fuckin’ check. It ends with stately pop and segues into a like-minded beast. The further you get, the more you realize the Hamelin/Fletcher combo has nothing to do with it. Though distinguishable, they have the same range and tone. It was the musicians who woke up this time, but instead of deciding to break rules they decided to play by any of them whenever they wanted. Guests? Sure, invite the Broken Social studs and Sam Roberts for the clap-happy “Oh, Shoplifter” or Metric’s let’s-get-on-with-that-solo-career-already Emily Haines for a “Baby Blues” duet.
— Kevin Keegan
Appearing: June 24th at the Intonation Festival in Chicago’s Union Park.
Click here to download “In The Beginning.”
