Straight from the decade that brought us Monty Python, Pacman and lava lamps, Reading’s Tail Feather are here to preserve some seventies style in a neat little time capsule.
The band appear complete with leather jackets, long hair and powerful moustaches on the cover of their new double A-side single ‘Knocked Down‘ / ‘All Of a Sudden’, and this all radiates a charming sense of nostalgia.
It’s extremely fitting that these tracks, released on March 10th and followed soon by an April/May UK tour, have been produced by Graham Dominy (a previous collaborator with the likes of Robert Plant and Ray Davies) as they have captured something that feels classic, polished and cool – like speeding in a vintage car.
‘Knocked Down’ opens with some crunchy blues guitar, letting the licks carry through the track; soft harmonies keep things supple and the solos are satisfyingly air-guitar worthy without stretching to over-indulgence. Lyrically, it conjures up thoughts of repeating potentially alcohol-fuelled mistakes – a sentiment that many of us in binge-Britain should be able to relate without stretching our boozy imaginations too far.
‘All Of a Sudden’ is all grooves and moves, with a relentlessly malleable guitar hook transporting the listener, head-nodding, to a climax that demonstrates some visceral vocal work that similarly reeks of the seventies rock sentiment. The connection the quartet possesses with their heroes of old is self-evident in this release.
Their whole sound is bursting with adoration for Peter Green and Steely Dan, and although focusing on a derivative approach is rarely a hotbed for groundbreaking new ideas, Tail Feather have succeeded in delivering something that has real soul.
