Feed - EP

This Seattle quartet began a decade ago, but disbanded almost immediately, only to resurface later in a different climate. The days of grunge are over, and so the tight-wound, more tapping-taut post-punk Feed seems more at home. Leader Adam Perry — taking time off from Cave 76 — has a voice that's three-quarters Elvis Costello (same nasally affection, in fact) and the rest Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, in the way that he seems reluctant to let go of his syllables. It's like they have to be wrenched from his throat. Perry and other guitarist Kevin Jones divide duties, as one favors the ol' ringing jangle while the other louder rock, leaving the rhythm section (Monnix Jelinek and Adam LeVasseur) to rise and fall towards either extreme as each passage demands. Ubiquitous Northwest producer Phil Ek (Shins, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Modest Mouse) sorts out this continual tug of war with a clean sound that lets you discern each pluck or strum or tom tom hit, but still leaves in the sharp constriction. And the songs are slyly built to break out of the indie rock ghetto, with equal measures of roots pop and Seattle post-punk. As Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick once sang, "Feed your head! Feed your head!"