Crazy Rhythms

This groundbreaking 1980 debut by New Jersey’s the Feelies ranks high among the “important” records from the collective post-punk oeuvre. Carefully and brilliantly remastered here, it will astound and delight discerning ears who are discovering — or perhaps rediscovering — a phenomenal recording that took the raw-nerve aesthetic of punk rock and tempered it with jangly, high-speed guitars and precise, heart-racing percussion. Clearly influenced by the Velvet Underground, these four nerdy-looking young men inspired a generation of indie-pop wannabes with tunes that were relentlessly catchy and sometimes darkly foreboding at the same time. From the first tentative woodblock notes on the jumpy “Boy With the Perpetual Nervousness” to the live-wire guitar strumming and warpath tom-toms of the title track (originally the last track of the set), Crazy Rhythms will live on for decades as a touchstone of a slow-moving musical revolution. The bonus tracks are stellar, one being a demo and the other a live take on an early Modern Lovers classic (another clear influence on the band).