REVIEWSThe Features, ‘Wilderness’

8

• SPIN Rating:8 of 10

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Release Date: July 26, 2011
Label: Serpents and Snakes

Features frontman Matthew Pelham deftly juggles chaos and control on Wilderness, playing restless philosopher and tormented lover with a fidgety confidence that suggests Iggy Pop's backwoods offspring. Though these small-town Tennessee boys have been active since the late '90s, they've never been so commanding, spewing volcanic rock with a dramatic flourish, then holding your attention by revealing a deceptively sophisticated wit. Catch "Big Mama," a grandiose climate-change lament, or languid ode "Fats Domino," or the thumping "Chapter III," which reflects on the idea of transcendence.