Buzzin Music Blog

Feral Children - Second to the Last Frontier, album review

There are only a few well documented accounts of feral children - wild youth raised by animals outside of normal rules of society, though there are plenty of knife-wielding joy riders that only just have their toes inside society!

These Feral Children found roots in Boston, then Washington before relocating to the more appropriate Seattle.

Jeff Keenan (vocals, percussion, guitar) and Jim Cotton (vocals, bass) allegedly played their first songs to a horse:

“We played grunge on acoustic guitars to the horse on the farm next door.” Keenan recalls.

Maybe you can understand why they moved to Seattle!

The debut album from Feral Children, Second to the Last Frontier has arrived, and its been every bit worth the wait. All four songs on the recently released free EP are included, along with 8 other truly absorbing tracks which make for a great debut.

Feral Children have been busy making a name for themselves with wild, bloody and chaotic live shows across the USA and Scott Colburn has done a fine job as producer of the album in capturing some of the archaic energy.

The closest this sounds to anyone else is an Arcade Fire on heat!

I can hear traces of Nick Cave, The Birthday Party, Dinosaur Jr, Mercury Rev and dare I say Bob Geldof and The Boomtown Rats lurking in corners, like ghosts from the past. But what comes out of the speakers is something new, very distinct, alive and kicking.

Hopefully it won’t be long before Feral Children venture across the water and show the UK what all the live fuss is about.

If you have already heard how good they are, go to the official Feral Children MySpace page. If you know how good they sound, chances are you have already bought this album.

Second to the Last Frontier by Feral Children is released on Sarathan Records.