Feral Family - Without Motion (2024) [Hi-Res]

By Ewan Gleadow
Not even a month into the year and 2024 holds some of the finest debut pieces of all. Folly Group, Brown Horse and now Feral Family. What a time to be alive – and what a time to listen to Without Motion. Get those heavy thumps of Cairo blaring through the speaker system. With a bit of luck and paired with a third coffee before three in the afternoon, they will shake off the sleep in your eyes. Just maybe. Neat thumps of darker intent and faded styles pour through Without Motion, which is of course in contrast to its title. You cannot have ten tracks of this well-refined quality without a bit of movement. Droning, chilling and exciting – those are the three inevitabilities of an album with skeletons on the front cover.

Without Motion has some neat tricks up its sleeve. Wailing away on Deep Cuts is a real treat for the ears and the darker studies this band is capable of shine through here. Lend an ear to the heaviness and whining, wailing guitar work on It’s All Us, a clear demonstration of quality in the Feral Family group. Their instrumental work often takes precedence over the rest of their efforts though it makes sense to do so. A singer in motion is only as good as the parts around him and for Without Motion, the tinges of grunge and fear found in the heady days of the 1980s and early 1990s are revived. They chart their course but bring out the best of the forgotten cuts of those genre observations while tinging their guitar work, the electric velocity of it, with a comfortable indie edge.

This is a band bubbling through with occasional energy unmatched by those working alongside them. Spice King lingers on as a well-timed and toned piece where vocalist Jamie Lowe is given some space to breathe after what is, effectively, a very heavy instrumental section for those first few songs. He seems keen and eager to lay back on that well-layered bed of instruments and see what froths up to the top. These are the sounds of a band striking out and finding their feet, breaking from this self-imposed prison and charming their way to the top of the vicious pile. Tremendous instrumentals guide them there and Lowe brings up these moments as a chance to reflect – a bold move on a debut record but they strike for the heart and stay there.

Scorched and powerful pieces from Feral Family are provided not just through their darker tones but the wild flows of what comes next. Without Motion reaches out for experiences not yet held, desperate and clamouring – those holes in the heart plugged by relentless desire and experience beyond their years. Thundering through with those tones tightly clipped and moved on the likes of Someday and single Sold, Feral Family has an exceptional first release on their hands and long may their wave of quality continue. Flickers of greatness on a debut piece is some achievement. For Feral Family it marks one of many musical pleasures – an assured turn of form for a band no doubt destined to work over their troubles and tremendous achievements in these dark, confident tracks.