It's been a year since the release of "Exhibit A." Any whiny, retrospective musings to share?

The CD release show was, in retrospect, definitely one of the highlights of my relationship with this band. Listening to "Exhibit A" that night, just amazing. And, of course, the acoustic show at Grimey's which I still am amazed that I saw. Oddly enough, a photographer at that show was taking pictures that ended up all the way in Boston, with my goofy ass smiling away dead center. They were probably playing "Stagecoach" or "LIAB."

In the past year the band's made their national TV debut, toured the crizap out of the UK, and made some totally sweet videos. Only 7 of the 12 album tracks were played at their last Nashville show (R.I.P. "Harder To Ignore," "Someway Somehow," "Situation Gone Bad" ; please don't die "LIAB" and "Idea of Growing Old").

What a year it has been...

Oh man, you beat me to it. I was totally thinking when I got up this morning that a full year had passed. I knew it was sometime this week and looked at my phone's calendar and realized that tuesday of last year was, indeed, the 14th. Yesterday was also my girlfriend's birthday (and no, I don't mean "Ray Davies"). I'm so glad this was the day the album was released because, with such a monumental anniversary, I'll never forget her birthday!

So as far as musings go, it certainly has been a long, surreal year... getting to play with some of their idols like Graham Coxen and The Walkmen... getting a massive response from the English... sharing the stage with Bloc Party, The Pixies, Interpol and White Stripes at Atlanta's Music Midtown... getting to meet celebrities at a press conference for a VH1 event they took part in... getting to honor the life of Mike Mahaffey alongside fellow ex-Spongebath bands at a sold-out show... being a Featured artist on Myspace... having their songs played in Abercrombies and Gaps across the country... the debut of Hold, You Alone...

And then there was the negative, like retiring Someway, Somehow (RIP)

I have embraced the "expect the worst, hope for the best" attitude with the band. Part of me hoped that they would break out and become the big thing, or get more recognition than they have. However, it has been a good year with all the good things they have. I think that the road to more recognition is better for them if done carefully. Will fair-weather fans be waiting to pick apart album number 2 like people are/were doing for the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand? No. An explosion is not what their career needs.

I liked the show better for the experience, but I don't remember that particular sets as being one of the best I've ever seen.

I remember the first time I heard a Features song, it was about a week after the US release of Exhibit A. KEXP Seattle (which I listen to on the web) played Someway, Somehow, and I immediately tried to find out something about the band. I found this site, and saw that they had an album out. It was about 5pm, and I ran down to town to try and pick it up. No luck. At that point I was unaware the Features were an American band, and that the UK release date was about 7 months away. Then followed a frenzied search to locate a decent US retailer who would mail to Europe at a reasonable price. I found one, and about a week later, the package arrived. I ran up the stairs and placed the CD in my stereo. As soon as the distorted guitar intro to Exhibit A begun, I knew I was onto a winner. 34 minutes later I had a huge smile on my face, I had just heard one of the most enjoyable perfect pop records ever. Ahhhh, fond memories. Even now, Im always in the mood to listen to Exhibit A, and it still never fails to get me singing along/playing air guitar/drums. Heres to a fitting sequel sometime next year!

Dude, everyone knows that you and Ray are "on the D.L."

(Edited by deathscythe257 at 8:39 pm on Oct. 6, 2005)

aawww.......that's so sweet.