The Feelies, Crazy Rhythms (side A)

Listening to 1980's Crazy Rhythms reminds me that it deserves its canonical status. It's not really the best recorded album, but the sound is not so bad as to get in the way. At least the guitars sound weird in an interesting way—the bass, on the other hand, is particularly muffled and hard to hear. The performances are particularly remarkable, vaguely close to the first Dream Syndicate album and really not much else. Much like the Dream Syndicate, the Feelies' later output never lived up to the promise of their amazing debut. The cover design is great too, though I have a hard time picturing Anton Fier wearing bright colors!