Description
Formed in 1984, feedtime, the legendary Australian band, created a rumble that has carried over the decades like a subterranean fault rupture; a persistent, threatening tectonic shift that has swallowed anyone lucky enough to encounter one of their records. feedtime started out as a WTF project that suddenly coalesced into something quite unlike anything else going: a pounding rhythm section with a hoarse vocalist that swam against the fast-faster-fastest hardcore tides of the time to create a timeless rock ‘n roll sound that is equal parts psych pound, punk holler, gutter blues, and post-punk noisescape, without ever sacrificing the song to the concept. Neat trick that.
Their initial period of intense activity was the mid-80s to the mid-90s. They released a series of records on the Aberrant (OZ), Rough Trade (UK/US), and Amphetamine Reptile (USA) labels. So, in 2011, when S.S. Records was working on bringing feedtime to the US in order to play our tenth anniversary showcase, SS10 (where they ruled), I asked Bruce Aberrant if there was any archival stuff laying around. Bruce snorted a “Yes” and said that there were reels of it, but none of it had been accessed for years.
Over the next six months Bruce went through hours of feedtime sessions, demos, and live tapes, transferring the keepers for S.S. to hear. We culled through dozens of songs – outtakes from feedtime’s great debut album and their even greater follow-up, “shovel.” We also put our ears on demos from the “Billy” era, as well as live stuff recorded in both a hotel and a hole in the ground. We came across songs that had never seen release in any form (e b g d, garbage scow, girlfriend, etc.), amazing outtakes of old favorites (shovel, fractured, possums, nice, etc), and cover versions that no one outside Bruce and the band had heard (Fear’s I Don’t Care About You, Flipper’s Life). The result is “Today is Friday,” a 15-song LP, with all previously unreleased recordings. The CD has five extra songs
feedtime is a fantastic Australian rock monster as compelling and insistent as the best of their class: Coloured Balls, Venom P. Stinger, Buffalo, Scientists, Saints, Primitive Calculators, Slugfuckers, etc. No hype: feedtime is truly a classic Australian rock & roll band and “Today is Friday” shows that as clearly as any of their classic albums do. (S.S.)
