ALBUM: FEET – ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’

Rating:

The debut record by the West Midlands based group FEET, ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’ is a raucous affair. 10 tracks dominated by hard guitars, intense vocals and distinctly 90’s sounding basslines.

The album starts as it means to go on, with track ‘Good Richards Crash’ kicking in with classic, filthy guitar tones. As the track reaches its chorus, the influence of old school sounds comes into play, with the guitar taking on a somewhat lighter sound. This, coupled with the direct and sometimes gruff vocal delivery, means that the track serves as a bridge between late 90’s Brit-pop touch stones and the modern indie landscape of today.

Track, ‘English Weather’ serves to elevate the band and their warped but still distinctly British sound. This is most evident with the lyrical nature of the track that pays homage to the archetypical British life of drizzly weather and cups of tea. Alongside this, the track also changes the sound of the record somewhat. Sporting bass grooves that are highly reminiscent of the old-school Madchester scene. Following on from this is track, ‘Pretty Thieving’. This track serves to alter the sound yet again, with the guitars taking on a harder and faster guitar part and a somewhat more aggressive vocal delivery. The track sounds highly reminiscent of modern punk acts such as Shame, again highlighting the great many influences that inhabit FEET’s sound.

The album reaching something of a highpoint with the titular track, ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’. Opening with a more electronic influenced guitar riff, it shows traces of groups such as the Super Furry Animals. It slows down the overall speed of the track, allowing the guitar to swell and grow. The first of many sound changes within the track comes when the bass takes hold, providing the track with another dose of the aforementioned Madchester groove.  As the track draws to an end, the tone drastically changes as the listener is, if but briefly, plunged into an unexpected guitar-fuelled slow dance before being shot back into the tracks initial speed. The album closes with track, ‘Wiggy Pop’, which carries itself with a slow melody that seems to be as close to calm as FEET can possibly get.

‘What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham’ is a record that highlights perhaps the best of British music. Taking inspiration from musical sounds of the past such as Madchester and Brit-pop, the album as a whole is rooted within a modern mind-set. Making use of new, modern punk elements, the record is still not afraid to dabble in more pop influenced tones. As a whole, the album is an unflinching melting-pot of sound.