Banishing Ritual, the debut album by the London-based trio
Feature, doesn't fool around much. The band's brand of punk is very simple and energetic, overlaid with pop melodies, spiky harmonies, and gnarly guitar grunge. Drummer/vocalist Jen Calleja (also of
Sauna Youth) drives the beat like a piston and sings in brutally honest, sneakily sweet fashion; guitarist Liv Willars uses her instrument like a blunt weapon as she pounds overdriven chords into shape; and bassist Heather Perkins holds things together with taut precision. The pieces fit together perfectly and they work to turn the songs into short, sharp nuggets of punk-pop gold that coalesce into a great album. Songs like "Jealous" and "Reeling" have all the joyous bounce of the best '80s post-punk-pop; "Prefeel" and "Schedules Align" have the chunky riffs and attitude of
Elastica's best stuff; "Memory" grinds like
Seamonsters-era
Wedding Present; and the rest all have energy and drive to spare. The album ends with a slow-rolling instrumental, "Feature Theme," that leaves you wanting more. Sadly, the band broke up before the album was even released. Luckily for fans of punky pop, or poppy punk, or just plain good guitar noise rock/pop/whatever, they finished
Banishing Ritual first. ~ Tim Sendra