The Features
Blow It Out

Tennessee’s The Features write bittersweet guitar pop songs with enough energy to beckon the sun from behind the (snow) clouds. Theirs is a nostalgic sound that borrows heavily from British influences (Buzzcocks, Undertones, XTC) but one that wouldn’t sound out of a place in a John Hughes movie.

‘Blow It Out’, taken from The Features fine debut album ‘Exhibit A’, is such a song, a three minute pop poem to the simple joy of listening to music or more specifically listening to music on record players; ‘You could be my guiding light / Shining on the vinyl bright/ To help me find a place that’s best / To lay my arm to rest./ Lay it down / Watch it go round and round, hear that sound and I’m alright.’

Sentimental stuff for sure but one wonders if one gets a similar feeling from downloading music onto an iPod, somehow I doubt it. What is unquestionable is The Features way with a tune, albeit a light, fluffy, and fairly forgettable one - just like most pop music then.