The Feelies ‎– Only Life (Red Vinyl)

Featuring the same revamped lineup that recorded The Good Earth this album rocks decisively harder, but leaves more open space than on Crazy Rhythms. Only Life has a tone of easy confidence that the first two Feelies' albums lacked, but it also sounds absolutely like them.
The foggy authority of Mercer's vocals is stronger than ever on numbers like "Higher Ground" and the title track. The complex simplicity of their balance of guitars and percussion sometimes recalls the Velvet Underground, but the Feelies were one of the few bands that built something uniquely their own from Lou Reed's multiple influences, as the sinewy "The Undertow" and the frenetic, joyous "Away" demonstrate. (The closing Velvets cover, "What Goes On," brilliantly sums up where the Feelies' influences end and where their own ideas began.)
Only Life isn't as immediately striking as the two albums that preceded it, with the group refining and refocusing their approach rather than offering major stylistic innovations. But it also delivers the Feelies being their own remarkable selves, clear-eyed and strong and unerringly human, and this album features some of their strongest performances on record; very few major label debuts of this era sounded as natural and casually uncompromised as Only Life.

Label: A&M Records – 5400863166373

Country: UK & Europe

Media Condition: MINT (M)
Sleeve Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)
At the top of the sleeve there's a small seam split