The seventh album from Welsh indie rockers Feeder started life as a completely separate side project. As such, it deviates from their previous radio friendly sound to embrace loud, noisy guitars with leanings towards 90s hard rock. It's hardly trend-setting stuff, but it's nice to hear Feeder sounding completely fresh.
After drummer Mark Richardson abandoned Feeder to return to the lately reformed Skunk Anansie, original members Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose decided to take a new direction. With new drummer Karl Richardson, they brought only new songs on tour under the name Renegades, before eventually reverting back to Feeder and releasing this, their seventh studio album. Long-time fans will likely be invigorated by the return to a noisier sound, fuelled by brash rock guitars and lacking even a hint of the lush orchestration they have become known for over the past number of years.
The energy that once created intoxicating pop rock hits like 'Buck Rogers' and 'Just A Day' is still audible in the upbeat bounce and lively chants of "hey" found in the title track, as well as the rapidly stabbing guitars of 'Call Out'. But Renegades is at its best where it fully embraces the noise. With the crashing cymbals of 'Sentimental', the sharp bending guitar of 'White Lies' and the grizzly distortion of 'Home', Feeder move closer to a sound most successfully brandished by the likes of Foo Fighters or Queens of the Stone Age.
Time and again, Feeder have proven themselves one of the best live bands in the business, particularly in festival slots. One thing's for sure, Renegades will sound awesome through a gigantic stadium sound system.
