Felt - Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty (1981 Great Minimalistic Alternative Rock)

On Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty, there are hints of Felt's later English pop grandeur -- on the instrumental opener "Evergreen Dazed," for example, which (sans rhythm section) pits guitarist Maurice Deebank's cascading, euphoric noodlings against Lawrence Hayward's clear acoustic strums -- but overall this is a fairly primitive affair. There is a stripped-down psychedelic feel to certain tracks, with drums pounding out a tribalistic, rolling beat beneath Deebank's complex guitar runs and Hayward's obtuse vocals. Later in their career, particularly on 1985's The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories, Felt would finally curb all that minimalist atmosphere into three-minute pop gems (while maintaining their skewed, unconventional palette); here, however, the pieces are in place but the overall vision is still rudimentary.

AMG Review by Erik Hage