Yesterday Went Too Soon

10/19/1999 3:00 AM, LAUNCH
Janiss Garza

Back home in the U.K., Feeder is apparently a Very Big Thing. They sell tons of records, and singer-songwriter Grant Nicholas is adored by the girls (though from his down-to-earth persona, you'd never guess it). In the U.S., however, the group still hasn't made much of an impact.

This lack of Stateside success is rather frustrating, because Feeder are really a good band. Both last year's Polythene and the current album offer up more than standard Brit-pop fare (and perhaps this is part of the problem--we ugly Americans are comforted by familiar clichés). Here, the pop is tempered by a raw feel, both musically and emotionally. For every cool, dreamy pause, such as "Pictures Of A Perfect Youth," there are at least a couple of raging numbers such as "Insomnia" and "Hole In My Head."

Nicholas clearly loves both pop and punk, but refuses to ally himself strictly with either one. He does, however, pay loving homage to John Lennon with "Paper Faces." Although Yesterday is an intriguing reflection of the contortions of Nicholas's brain, the band never loses its melodic sense or its hooks. Whether Americans will groove to that creative complexity is another thing altogether.