The History of Apple Pie: Feel Something (Marshall Teller) Review

The History of Apple Pie

Feel Something

Marshall Teller

Oct 29, 2014 Web Exclusive By Mack Hayden

The polite female vocals, the wispy shoegazing guitars, the sudden transition from oceanic sonics to more pop-based songwriting: it seems like The History of Apple Pie is posturing to be the next Lush. They’re doing pretty well at achieving that, even if they remain too inexperienced to consider Feel Something as their version of Lovelife after they gave up on creating the next Loveless.

Their sophomore album is much more immediately accessible than their debut, and this is both its greatest strength and weakness. On the one hand, this will be immediately pleasing to your ears if you’re a fan of any female-fronted band, from Elastica to Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They know their indie rock template very well. The fault is how little distance they’re able to create from any other given band. “Puzzles” and “Don’t You Wanna Be Mine” are catchy, irresistible even, but distinctive they are not. It’s not a sophomore slump; it’s more of a shrug. The delicate soaring of album closer “Just Like This” is a sign-off worth being proud of. They know they’re good at what they do. Here’s hoping they’ll aim for something great with LP three. (www.facebook.com/thehistoryofapplepie)

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