'When I talk about music I get so intense about it' says Feeder's singer/guitarist/songwriter Grant Nicholas. 'I can't help myself. I'm so passionate about it'. If ever there was a reason to hate Feeder, the first line of the accompanying press release for their new singles compilation would be it. Such innocuous sycophancy is more becoming of Celine Dion or Michael Jackson, not a supposed UK Rock God. Sort it aahht, Nicholas! With 3.5 million album sales under their belt since their formation in 1992, however, the Welshman is entitled to feel a modicum of self-gratification. Feeder are a band who've had their fair share of knocks (original drummer Jon Lee committed suicide in 2002, and since then Nicholas has presumably been tormented with the perennial 'Is this song about Jon?' inquiry); their first two full-length albums, Polythene (1997) and Yesterday Went Too Soon (1999) both received largely favourable reviews, if not sales figures, but it wasn't until 2001's Echo Park that they had their first bona fide hit (Buck Rogers) which propelled them into the charts, and hearts, of UK teenagers. 'Singles' requires no explanation, but here's one anyway: twenty tracks spanning seven albums; the obligatory handful of new songs thrown in (Lost and Found, Burning the Bridges and Save Us); a collection of alt-rock songs which should be easy to hate, but are ridiculously hard to. The standout tracks here are indubitably those from their latter albums, Comfort In Sound and Pushing The Senses, on which the trio have cultivated an expressly tight, reliable heavy rock anthem/winsome-acoustic-ballad formula. Come Back Around, Seven Days In the Sun and Just A Day are all energetic bursts of punchy, big-riff-small-riff indie rock; Comfort In Sound, Turn and Feeling A Moment, straightforward radio-friendly melodies, but where Feeder truly shine is on the lush Forget About Tomorrow, a goosebump-inducing, orchestral-backed quasi-masterpiece. Nicholas's lyrics verge on puerile at times, the music teeters close - and sometimes surrenders to apathy, and there's an undeniable feeling of mortification upon discovering that you actually perversely enjoy singing 'Get a house in Devon/drink cider from a lemon'. But like it or not, Feeder have had some bloody catchy singles.
