Feet – ‘Make It up’ album review: Generic indie rock trapped in the past
THE SKINNY: We all remember the 2010s, don’t we? Those heady days, pre-Covid, pre-Brexit, where everything seemed a little less complicated. Some of you might go as far as to yearn for that time again, but for Coventry indie rockers Feet, the 2010s never ended. The band first got together in 2016 and started making a name for themselves with their Britpop revivalist indie. Now, eight long years later, the group seem to have forgone any desire to build upon or develop their sound in the slightest. Their latest effort, Make It Up, is virtually indistinguishable from any of their previous efforts.
From the earliest days of pop music, bands have been left with something of an artistic dilemma: whether to stick to the sound that is selling or develop their own unique voice through experimentation and dedication to the medium. Feet have, disappointedly, chosen the former. There is very little to say about Make It Up that could not also be attributed to their early run singles in 2017 or their debut album What’s Inside Is More Than Just Ham. Even for the most dedicated Feet fans out there, there must come a point where audiences will get fatigued by this endlessly repackaged sound.
This is especially true given the fact that the specific brand of optimistic, clean-cut indie Feet are trying to replicate was already becoming incredibly tired and overdone when the band first formed back in 2016. Sure, it was enough to fill small venues around the nation eight years ago, but music has moved on now. It is groups like Feet, who live perpetually in the past that stifle the development of new and innovative music scenes by continuing to put out bland and derivative indie rock – seemingly without much care.
There is nothing particularly offensive about Make It Up; the production by Andy Savours is decent, and the basslines and guitar tones are commendable at points, but, on the whole, the record is so painfully bland and lacking in variety that it becomes a chore to listen to. An album should be a series of differing emotions, themes and sounds, but Make It Up is akin to a flat line of monotony. There is nothing to be gained here, least of all by Feet themselves. Creating an album that sounds virtually the same as their previous work begs the question: how much longer the band can sustain itself?
For fans of: Ready salted crisps, plain ham sandwiches, and finding black pepper ‘too spicy’.
A concluding comment from a bucket hat salesman: It’s not my cup of tea, but business has been booming since these generic indie boys started growing an audience, so I can’t complain.
Make It Up track by track:
Release Date: June 14th | Producer: Andy Savours | Label: Submarine Cat Records
‘Better Than Last’: The guitar track on this song is very reminiscent of The Housemartins’ ‘Happy Hour’. Unfortunately, though, that is where the similarities stop; the song soon descends into painfully generic indie detritus. [2/5]
‘The Real Thing’: In what will likely be a common theme throughout this record, ‘The Real Thing’ is not particularly bad or offensive. It just lacks any ounce of originality to the point where it is incredibly forgettable. [2/5]
‘I’m Wrong’: There is nothing distinctive about this song, or the band’s sound in general. You could easily be listening to a plethora of other indie landfill bands that have come out over the past 15 years. [1.5/5]
‘Greasy Boy’: The weird Anthony Keidis impression used by singer George Haverson on this song is doing him no favours. In fairness, though, the best vocals in the world could not make these lyrics palatable. [1/5]
‘Why Would I Live?’: Embracing a more tender atmosphere, this song is perhaps the strongest effort from across the album, though it is still too nondescript to really make much of an impression. [2.5/5]
‘Truly Awful’: Feet’s flirts with melancholic, emotional songwriting feels as disingenuous as the archaic laddish indie rock the band are desperately trying to imitate. [1.5/5]
‘Sit Down’: For a group that has been around as long as Feet, their unwavering lack of diversity or nuance in sound is pretty worrying – what have they been doing for the past several years? [2/5]
‘No Vision: There are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and bland indie boys singing about suburban alienation. It is a song theme that has been done so many times that only the very best efforts rise to the top, ‘No Vision’ is not one of those. [1/5]
‘When You’re Feeling Strange’: Once again, there is no variety within this album or within Feet’s discography as a whole. Each and every song is just a repackaged version of the same thing with slightly different basslines. [1/5]
‘Bullseye’: The bass tones on this track are pretty enjoyable but are soon overshadowed by the eye-roll-inducing return of Haverson’s derivative lyricism and vocal performance. [1.5/5]
‘On The Wire’: Somehow, the bland indie landfill of Feet has become ever less notable on this song. It is boring to the point of having almost no discernable characteristics – which is, in itself, an achievement of sorts. [1/5]
‘Goodbye (So Long, Farewell)’: Disappointingly not a homage to the track from The Sound of Music but, by this point, the end of the album comes as nothing short of a blessed relief. [1.5/5]
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