[Cover photo credit to John Baumgartner]
New Jersey-based Indie-Rock pioneers, The Feelies, are releasing their seventh album, Some Kinda Love, their first ever live album. Some Kinda Love features their performance of an extensive retrospective set of songs written for The Velvet Underground, recorded at a sold-out White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, NJ on October 13. 2018, produced by Feelies founders Bill Million and Glenn Mercer.
The concert was staged in conjunction with the opening of The Velvet Underground Experience exhibition in the East Village at the request of its curators. Some Kinda Love is being released by Bar/None Records on October 13, 2023 on 2 x 12” LP vinyl, CD, digital download and via streaming platforms.
Throughout the concert documented on Some Kinda Love, the group ran through a mix of selections from all four Velvets’ studio albums, as well as rare tracks that surfaced years after their demise, starting with “Sunday Morning,” the first song on the Velvet’s debut and closing with “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’,” the closing song on their last studio album together.
Formed in Haledon NJ in the 1970’s, The Feelies have now released six albums including their influential debut Crazy Rhythms. Supporting the release of their first four albums the band appeared on the The Late Show With David Letterman and in concerts with The Patti Smith Group, R.E.M., and Bob Dylan as well as touring with Lou Reed.
In 2008, the Feelies ended a 17-year sabbatical to open for Sonic Youth at Battery Park and then resurrected their tradition of playing low key gigs at strategic intervals throughout the year rather than doing lengthy tours. In honor of their 40th Anniversary Bar/None Records re-released their third and fourth albums, Only Life and Time for a Witness in early 2015. Their most recent album is In Between.
In 2022, The Feelies reactivated their alter ego, The Willies which had been an important vehicle for experimentation for Feelies mainstays Glenn Mercer and Bill Million during the period between the release of their debut Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth their second album.
The Willies, featuring all the Feelies’ members, perform original instrumentals including vintage numbers like “The Obedient Atom” as well as interpretations of instrumental works by Brian Eno, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix. Toni and John Baumgartner of longstanding NJ Art-Folk outfit Speed The Plough are special guests on several numbers. Their music has been featured in the films Married to the Mob, Something Wild, Prelude to a Kiss, The Truth About Charlie, The Squid & the Whale and Ricki and the Flash.
