Feeler

iTunes Review

In 1997 the Toadies cut the original version of Feeler as a follow-up to the platinum-selling Rubberneck, but Interscope decided to shelve the album. For Toadies fans, the release of Feeler in re-recorded form is a cause for celebration. The boiling angst and pain-wracked eroticism that defined the Texas-based group over a decade ago is still present; what’s added is maturity in musicianship and spirit. Feeler’s songs both recapture the volcanic energy of the grunge era and stand the test of time as pure primal rock. Singer Todd Lewis invests these tunes with a tormented sense of heroism, scraping off any dated qualities to make them sound immediate, threatening and seductive. Certainly, the urban paranoia running through “City of Hate” and the conflicted desire embedded in “Pink” fit the tenor of the ‘10s as well as the ‘90s. Clark Vogeler’s astringent guitar and Mark Reznicek’s brutally solid drumming add mightily to the sinewy power of tracks like “Waterfall,” “Suck Magic,” and “Mine.” All told, Feeler has the feel of a dark gem snatched from undeserved obscurity.