If you're an indie rock band and you want to play up the garage punk influences in your music, you would think having Ty Segall as producer would be the way to go. But a listen to 2019's Post Earth, the second album from Feels, suggests maybe the formula is more complicated than that. Segall produced Feels' self-titled 2016 debut album, which was a likable bit of pop-leaning indie rock with a seriously garage-centric undertow. But Tim Green was in the producer's chair for Post Earth, and this music sounds sharper, tighter, and distinctly punkier than the debut, with the garage moves more natural and the guitar crosstalk more expressive in round two. Of course, having more experience under their belt likely has more to do with the more robust attack on Post Earth than anything else, but the relative clarity of Green's engineering and mix does flatter this music, and the guitar interplay of Laena Geronimo and Shannon Lay benefits from the cleaner audio, as simple chiming meets skronky noise and turns out to make a handsome couple. Geronimo's lead vocals and Lay's harmonies are superbly sweet and sour here, with just enough bite to tone down the sugar, and Amy Allen's bass (she also contributes backing vocals) and Michael Rudes' drumming are concise and propulsive, giving the songs a sturdy foundation as the tuneful but expressively angular melodies fold out in an effective manner. On numbers like "Tollbooth" and "Deconstructed," Feels can tear into a song with the joyous fury of old-school hardcore without losing sight of their pop sensibilities, while they can explore their more languid side on "Find a Way" and still maintain focus. Post Earth is a step up all around for Feels, and refreshingly demonstrates they don't need a garage-pop prodigy on board to make an album worth hearing. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

1		Car
2		Awful Need
3		Deconstructed
4		Find a Way
5		W.F.L.
6		Sour
7		Last Chance
8		Post Earth
9		Tollbooth
10		Anyways
11		Flowers

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