Renegades (Feeder)
Renegades EP

Fans of Feeder will truly have plenty to rejoice about this year.

Besides a new studio work coming out in the next few months, the trio consisting of Grant Nicholas, Taka Hirose, and new drummer Karl Brazil have also put together this new side project named Renegades and released the self-titled debut EP.

Everything started a few months ago with the departure of Mark Richardson from the band, who returned to Skunk Anansie in light of their reunion last year. Grant felt the need to return to a more intimate setting, playing in smaller venues with a simple three-piece band. With Brazil joining the band, the Renegades project began, a sort of "outlet" before fully committing to Feeder's seventh studio album.

This EP is the official debut of the "new" band, released for the occasion by Big Teeth Music, the new label founded by Feeder themselves. Comprising four tracks, it is perhaps simplistic to consider it simply a "divertissement" from the prolific Nicholas.

In fact, the record offers barely twelve minutes of great music. Momentarily leaving behind the mellowness of albums like "Comfort In Sound" and "Pushing The Senses", the guys aim to "thicken" and strengthen the gritty sound of the last, beautiful "Silent Cry".

Right from the first track, which gives the EP its title and the band its name, it's clear that this is no joke: "Renegades" is indeed one of Grant's best compositions, pleasantly oscillating and swinging with an epic and suitably pompous verse, before delivering a killer chorus perfect for the live scenes of this new era. "Sentimental" might be the least convincing of the four, but it still maintains an irresistible tempo, and the melodic taste of the Welsh singer is certainly not absent.

"Time Goes By", on the other hand, is the real gem of the EP: a power pop song that seems like it's written by the best Weezer, energetic and gritty yet perfectly structured and performed by the band with decisiveness and emotion. It concludes with "Barking Dogs", two minutes worthy of the atmospheres found in the band's earliest works (the EP "Swim", the excellent debut "Polythene").

Awaiting the new Feeder album, which at this point looks very promising (the new songs presented live, assuming they aren't intended for a possible continuation of the Renegades project, are stunning and super energetic), a "highly recommended appetizer", not just for fans.

Key tracks: "Renegades", "Time Goes By"