The Feelies, Hoboken’s legendary and influential strum-groove rockers, kind of faded away a couple of years ago, eclipsed by the “alternative” explosion. Those still pining for that hot post-Velvets frenzy should find Wake Ooloo cause for celebration. Featuring ex-Feelies Glenn Mercer and Dave Weckerman, Wake Ooloo pick up the ball the Feelies dropped and blast off with it. On their debut Hear No Evil (Pravda), guitarist/vocalist Mercer, who always seemed to be trying to drive the Feelies faster and faster, pushes his new quartet with speed-of-light velocity, his fleet-fingered, strum-driven epiphanies consistently pushing heavenward. While drummer Weckerman takes on a few tunes with his frail warble, it’s clearly Mercer’s show, and he unabashedly continues with what concerned him in the Feelies, using the melodies as drop cloths to splatter with his possessed guitar rhapsodies.
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Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Edward Barron.
