The success of Coldplay has done funny things to some of their peers.
Snow Patrol, for one, discarded their previous identity as indie underachievers, got epic, and reaped the rewards. Now Feeder, Britain's mild-mannered hard rockers, and Athlete, a pleasantly slipshod outfit recently nominated for the Mercury Prize, have evidently decided that a few pianos and some uplifting melancholy could be just what their longevity and balance sheets require.
In Feeder's case, you could see it coming. Their fourth album, Comfort in Sound, was already speeding away from the trio's instinctive cheery riff into mellower and more emotionally mature territory, caused by the suicide of the band's original drummer in 2002.
Pushing the Senses ups the ante further. Bar a couple of throwbacks to their chuntering guitar days, their fifth album aims squarely for the big hankie box, unfurling pensive soft-rock anthems-in-waiting like 'Feeling a Moment'. It should work; certainly, these songs will play well to their friends, Travis's fans. But listen closely and singer Grant Nicholas deals exclusively in trite blandishments and formulaic builds.
Feeder - Pushing the Senses (Echo)
Athlete - Tourist (Parlophone)
Source: Guardian
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