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Apr 19, 2011As far as comebacks go, you can't ask for much more than the sturdy set of vibrant pop songs The Feelies have bestowed upon us.
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Dec 9, 2011Now as before, there are few groups in rock & roll that perform as brilliantly and purposefully as an ensemble as the Feelies, and on Here Before their trademark sound remains a thing of wonder that hasn't been dimmed a bit by the passage of time.
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Jun 23, 2011If anything, Here Before echoes the pastel colors of 1986's The Good Earth, each song a subtle variant of the next, measured and metronomic. This isn't a first-spin grabber, but if you're as patient as the Feelies have been, it might grow on you.
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Apr 21, 2011"Is it too late to do it again?" Clearly not.
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Apr 26, 2011Sure, the record isn't very functional outside of its given context, but if you've tuned into this program before then it'll be nice to know that one of the most congenial of indie pop acts can still deliver on their good name and to their respective audience in equal measure.
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Apr 11, 2011The Feelies really are here again, operating in a fashion as insular and purposeful as they did in days of old without denying who they are now. It's good to have them around.
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MojoMay 18, 2011It isn't as urgent as Crazy rhythms, but follows from 1986's The Good Earth with a sparkling, rolling and guitar strum-driven understatement between third and fourth LP Velvets, a minimalist Neil Young and their cheerleaders R.E.M. [Jun 2011, p.105]
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Apr 26, 2011Here Before questions its existence as a new chapter for the band while content to see it closed, mentions of transition and introspection at the core of their story. What you can take from it is that its protagonists are aging gracefully and that, if this is their last hurrah, The Feelies are going out strong.
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Apr 12, 2011Here, the Feelies simply dig up The Good Earth's pastoral, post-Velvets power-pop -- a sound that ruled college radio airwaves in the mid-80s but which boasts few notable contemporary adherents -- and blissfully strum away as if they were performing in hammocks.
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Apr 13, 2011The fact that the band is back doing the same things it did best before is a good reason for celebration.
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Q MagazineMay 31, 2011This fifth album shouldn't disappoint them [their fans]. [Jun 2011, p.114]
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Apr 12, 2011Picking up pretty much where their last set, 1991's Time for a Witness, left off, the Feelies' music remains a template of formal perfection, like a holiday service at the VU Episcopal Church.
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Apr 12, 2011The truth is that unlike past Feelies albums, Here Before has a paucity of standout tracks; it's enjoyable more for its sound than for what the band does with it.
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May 12, 2011The Feelies were a product of the New Jersey suburbs, and Here Before speaks to their origins: its distinctly pastoral feeling is tempered with a slight nervousness and tension, the sound of the city meeting the countryside. It's gorgeous.
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The WireJun 13, 2011Here Before picks up as though they'd never left. [May 2011, p.50]
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UncutMay 13, 2011It's largely composed of pretty humdrum strum and twang, defining The Feelies less as the missing link between The Modern Lovers and Vampire Weekend, more as the founders of '80s college rock ordinaire. [Jun 2011, p.82]
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Under The RadarJun 8, 2011Their forward (albeit delayed) momentum works on the first six tracks here. The individual elements pop and sparkle. Unfortunately, the post-punk attitude of the band's first two albums is quickly waylaid for nostalgic, sad sack lyricism, and Mercer's hang-ups about being old. [May 2011, p.84]