Violent Femmes versus Feelies

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Somewhat similar geek pop with Lou Reedery vocals. Most people who give a shit about either of these bands would claim their debuts rank high on any all time debut list. I would take the second Feelies album, The Good Earth, over any other album release by either band, though; therefore, Feelies it is.

― Thaddeus Stevens, Monday, 20 June 2005 22:41 (twenty years ago)

I'm curious if my assumption that The Feelies will slaughter Violent femmes is correct.

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:44 (twenty years ago)

well, i guess i'll be the first to vote for the femmes then.

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:46 (twenty years ago)

The Feelies.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:47 (twenty years ago)

feelies

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:47 (twenty years ago)

Feelies

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:48 (twenty years ago)

FEELIES FEELIES FEELIES FEELIES FEELIES

― jody l'anti-vierge (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:49 (twenty years ago)

feelies

― dan (dan), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:50 (twenty years ago)

Feelies

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:51 (twenty years ago)

Feelies by a mile

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:52 (twenty years ago)

I have only the first Feelies album, but still,

FEELIES

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:52 (twenty years ago)

Haha did anyone even think this was close?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:53 (twenty years ago)

Crazy Rhythms, on a CD? Please?

― Good, But Not For Everyone, Monday, 20 June 2005 22:55 (twenty years ago)

femmlies!

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:56 (twenty years ago)

Femmes, plus you people are all insane.

"American Music", people!

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:08 (twenty years ago)

American Music is pretty fucking classic, but...

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:09 (twenty years ago)

The rave-up in "Crazy Rhythms" vs. a guy screaming "She reminds me of me" or whatever over and over and over.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)

the violent femmes are one of those bands that sounded better in college. then once you graduate...

― jody l'anti-vierge (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:17 (twenty years ago)

haha... while i have just about every femmes album, and love them all, i can definitely see jody's point.

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:18 (twenty years ago)

the violent femmes are one of those bands that sounded better in college. then once you graduate...

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~hahn0053/TBC25.gif

"When you grow up, your heart dies"

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:24 (twenty years ago)

I'll stand by the Femmes debut. It's pretty definitive. But Crazy Rhythms is like yay more woah.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:24 (twenty years ago)

"The Good Earth" is a wonderful rec, too. FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELIES

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:25 (twenty years ago)

Violent Femmes by two miles.

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:26 (twenty years ago)

The VF're one of those bands I've never come close to liking (that one song aside, actually that other one song aside too), but I've often had annoying friends who've made me hear them.

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:29 (twenty years ago)

Feelies, easily.

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:31 (twenty years ago)

Feelies definitely.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:37 (twenty years ago)

Which band was covered by Ethan Hawke's band in Reality Bites? But even without that bit of damning evidence, the Feelies by a mile.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:41 (twenty years ago)

Feelies by a mile.

― mcd (mcd), Monday, 20 June 2005 23:47 (twenty years ago)

I like the Feelies, but I'm going with the `Femmes. Simply more fun. Sue me.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 01:06 (twenty years ago)

alex, how could you? traitor.

― jody l'anti-vierge (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 01:18 (twenty years ago)

Feelies

But if you were to add the Vulgar Boatmen to this battle-between-geeky-pop-alternative-bands with vaguely Lou Reedish vocals, the VBmen would be laying some serious smack down.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 01:39 (twenty years ago)

I.P Feelies

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 02:52 (twenty years ago)

I'll join in the Feelies onslaught on album (Good Earth esp., way to go thread), however I must say that I have seen them both live and the Femmes impressed me far more. Unlike The Feelies, who were dicks to the bar staff and insisted on their specific extensive rider (hand made tabouli, my ass), the Femmes seemed more concerned with introducing the audience who was there for the "hits" to the vicious brand of avant-jazz they liberally peppered their set with. I personally observed a young blonde made-up woman in nice clothes holding her ears shut but still totally fascinated with the Ayler-esque squawk of their ad hoc horn section, about 5 or 6 guys including a former member of Boy Dirt Car. I never saw The Feelies do anything like that.

― sleeve (sleeve), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 03:14 (twenty years ago)

haha The Horns of Dilemma! those guys are awesome!

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 03:38 (twenty years ago)

horns of dilemma = roadies (which also ='s more awesome)

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 05:09 (twenty years ago)

the real winner is the feelies guitar tech who, the only time i ever saw the feelies play, had to replace a string on overzealous strummer bill million's guitar for something like seven of eight songs in a row. seven or eight VERY SHORT songs. million had two guitars with him, which meant the roadie had exactly the length of one song, about two minutes, to change the string and get it in tune, seven or eight straight times without a break. it was a superhuman feat, and i am confident that roadie could beat the crap out the violent femmes' guitar tech any day of the week and twice on sunday.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 05:20 (twenty years ago)

feelies esp. for good earth which, for me at least, blows crazy rhythms away

saw feelies do a set once where they came out and did 6 3 song encores, effectively playing a full other set, ppl were exhausted dancing by the end, just amazing. their tech guy told me afterwards it was one of the 3 best shows he'd ever seen 'em do.

― H (Heruy), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 06:10 (twenty years ago)

feelies esp. for good earth which, for me at least, blows crazy rhythms away

they're both amazing. and pretty different from one another.

― jody l'anti-vierge (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 06:29 (twenty years ago)

Feelies bys quite a few miles

― snowballing (snowballing), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 06:41 (twenty years ago)

'Femmes - by just slightly under 500 metres, no more.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 07:23 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Feelies for me too. But that first Femmes LP is as good as the best Feelies album. (And would have bettered it, if not for those g-dawful squealing "Bye bye bye bye"s in "Please Do Not Go" - I fucking CRINGE every time I don't skip that track entirely.)

Now, can we rename this thread "Touchies vs. Feelies"?

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 08:22 (twenty years ago)

Feelies. I feel a need to listen to "Sooner or Later" every freakin' day.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 10:51 (twenty years ago)

alex, how could you? traitor.

I don't think I discovered the Feelies until later in the day (probably not until the Good Earth when a friend put "The High Road" on a mixtape....which was, like, `87 I want to say), whereas I remember the `Femmes from back in high school. So, they're sort've completely removed from each other in my book. Moreover, their respecitve sounds and aesthetics are pretty different.

The Femmes also dwarf the Feelies in terms of catalog. That isn't to say that every Violent Femmes album is utter gold (the bad ones outnumber the good ones), but they simply have more material out there than the Feelies.

And the `Femmes -- despite Gordon's conflicts with faith -- just seem nastier, funnier, more sarcastic, more obnoxious, more fun. So, the `Femmes win.

But I still love the Feelies too.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 11:00 (twenty years ago)

well said alex, we're right, they're wrong, they'll all see someday

also: feelies were the reunion band in something wild, and this really nice guy tried to steal my girlfriend away from me by giving her the soundtrack to the movie (which they had seen together), and now we're all grown up and I married the girlfriend and we're really good friends with the other guy and his family but STILL my feelies-are-evil vibe remains

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 14:45 (twenty years ago)

But, except for the debut, the Femmes made bad albums!

I suppose it depends on what you prefer: the Feelies' ultra-formalist remake/remodel of the Velvets and Modern Lovers or the Femmes' ultra-schticky, mannered, goon-show take on new wave.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

i will say that this outpouring of love for the feelies is gonna get me to a record store later this week. any recommedations for a good entry point?

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 16:03 (twenty years ago)

But, except for the debut, the Femmes made bad albums!

Sez you. Hallowed Ground is great (if an acquired taste) and I personally think Why Do Birds Sing? is an unheralded masterpiece. They did make a few inarguable clunkers, yes, but their greatness did not end with the final note of their first record.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

Apples and oranges. Loved the first Violent Femmes album and "Gimme The Car" (one of the most wonderfully consciously manipulative songs ever), but as JBR says above, loses much of its luster the further you get from your undergraduate degree. OTOH, I'm still hearing new things in the Feelies' records.

― mike a, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

I'd also suggest that the Violent Femmes owe more to the first-album/Cale-produced Modern Lovers than the Feelies do.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 16:07 (twenty years ago)

And Gano's lyrics are very teen-angsty, while Mercer's are about...well, usually nothing at all.

― mike a, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

Feelies all the way!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

feelies, I like hand-made tabouli!

who was that guy in the VFs anyway--Gordon Gecko? or was that the Michael Douglas character in the movie about Wall Street? I don't know. I got heartily sick of their first album, actually the only Feelies tune I ever go back to is the one from "Good Earth," "Slipping into Something."

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)

i vote Femmes! what other group (aside from depeche mode) could every girl at my catholic all-girls high school agree on? gordon gano did for us what god couldn't do. he made us feel wanted. and filthy!

― The Landlord's Daughter (The Landlord's Daughter), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 18:21 (twenty years ago)

feelies, because if i ever hear "blister in the sun" again, ill explode.

― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 18:24 (twenty years ago)

also because i love the feelies.

― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 18:25 (twenty years ago)

I'd also suggest that the Violent Femmes owe more to the first-album/Cale-produced Modern Lovers than the Feelies do.
-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), June 21st, 2005.

Not guitar-wise, though, surely? And for me that's the main reason to listen to the Feelies.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

if i get one more phone call at the radio station i work/dj at requesting or inquiring about the violent femmes (even if it's from another inmate)...

FEELIES

― sovietpanda (sovietpanda), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 18:58 (twenty years ago)

I can envision a college freshman playing Violent Femmes songs on acoustic guitar sitting on the steps outside his dorm much more easily than I can Feelies songs, which is but one reason why the Feelies win. Also, Feelies got the funk.

Femmes are for me probably the most annoying "classic alternative/college rock" band ever.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 19:01 (twenty years ago)

The Violent Femmes were fairly exciting live at the start (in my case, @ Folk City '83 just before the debut LP came out). So Feelies career, Femmes peak?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)

Feelies. And happy to see I'm not alone is like The Good Earth best.

― Burr (Burr), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 03:32 (twenty years ago)

in liking The Good Earth best.

― Burr (Burr), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 03:35 (twenty years ago)

Femmes, plus you people are all insane.

"American Music", people!

-- Dom Passantino (juror...), June 21st, 2005.

SCARIEST VIDEO EVER

― latebloomer: now with 20% less cetacean content (latebloomer), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 03:38 (twenty years ago)

Once again, the Feelies were great -- but they never made me laugh. The `Femmes were great (i.e. they rocked) AND they were fuckin' funny.

Thus the `Femmes soundly and roundly trounce the Feelies.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 14:21 (twenty years ago)

I despise The Feelies. They're ridiculously boring. No one need ever listen to them. They should be lumped together with Coldplay in the Faceless, Emotionally-Barren Drivel That PEople Who Really Should Know Better Fawn Over barrel.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

Hahahaha...wow. How do you really feel about'em, Dan?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

ILM is pushing my rant buttons this week! I blame the heat.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

Also, Gordon Gano was quite the hot little dude.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)

Dan and Alex, dudes,
east coast college graduates
ALWAYS pick feelies

you are both traitors
to your class, geography,
and cool hipness cred!

On the other hand,
both of you are quite correct
as we all agree

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

Class traitors of the world
Unite and take over

― The Ghost of I Know It's The Wrong Band (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

and Morbs OTM, if I was ever attracted to a guy it was GG

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 15:08 (twenty years ago)

kornrulez6969 gets massive bonus respect points for referencing the vulgar boatmen, whom i too would take over the feelies, whom i too would take over the violent femmes.

― john'n'chicago, Tuesday, 28 June 2005 15:12 (twenty years ago)

Yes, I'll take Gano over Mercer or Million, anytime – but I suspect he'll hate the experience and then write a petty song about it.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 15:17 (twenty years ago)

east coast college graduates
ALWAYS pick feelies
Just a guess here, but eccg were probably more likely to have seen the Feelies live, the context in which they obliterate the Violent Femmes. Who, to be fair, probably didn't take ten-hour sound checks.

― dlp9001, Tuesday, 28 June 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

please elucidate on "obliterate"; have you seen them both? if so, were the shows in the same time period, or was it like prime feelies vs. old femmes, or what? enquiring minds want to know.

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 16:17 (twenty years ago)

Fair enough. Both were around long enough that it'd be tough to prove that point. My big concert-going years were approx. '84-'95, and I never did see the Feelies in their early days (too young).

― dlp9001, Tuesday, 28 June 2005 16:41 (twenty years ago)

I've seen the Feelies once and the Violent Femmes twice and the Feelies trounce all over the Femmes. Still it's an apples/oranges comparison and both bands have an annoying fan base that won't shut up about them.

Hallowed Ground doesn't get the amount of respect as it should and Crazy Rhythms isn't quite as good as most folks say it is.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 18:40 (twenty years ago)

Saw the Feelies well over a dozen times. Never saw the Femmes. I have, however, seen thousands of other bands, and the Feelies were better than almost all of them live.

― mike a, Tuesday, 28 June 2005 18:44 (twenty years ago)

Chris B your mixed signals are making me loco en la cabeza!

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

I cannot fathom The Feelies being good under any context. Perhaps It's Only Life was the wrong album to use as an introduction.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 18:58 (twenty years ago)

With both groups I love the debuts, and I prefer Crazy Rhythms over Violent Femmes even though its less songy. Those kinds of ultra-percussive, clattery grooves are just too awesome. The later Feelies albums don't do as much for me but they've got their high points. I haven't heard much of the later Violent Femmes work but what I have grates on me.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

I'd definitely rather hear a Femmes cover than a Feelies cover.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 19:03 (twenty years ago)

oh wait, Ethan Hawke, never mind

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 28 June 2005 19:03 (twenty years ago)

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