THE DAMAGE IS DONE

The Features
“The Beginning (Week One)”
The Beginning, EP release (2001)

Few other recordings capture the energy of the band’s live performance as well as this one. The title track from the band’s second EP is a raucous outpouring of pure rock and roll emotion that rolls along at a breakneck pace. The production is very straight forward, void of overdubs, backing vocals or heavy guitar distortion. This is simply the Features playing rock and roll, and that’s why it succeeds.

THIS VERSION APPEARS ON:
The Beginning, EP release (2001)
The Beginning, Fierce Panda EP release (2003)
The Beginning, Universal EP release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Live @ Bingham’s (February 1st, 2003)
Live @ The Exit/In (August 19th, 2005)

The Features
“Dark Room”
Mahaffey Sessions (2000)

As with all the Mahaffey Sessions versions, this one is super glossy, poppy and heavy on the synth sound. The guitar sounds unlike any other guitar I’ve ever heard, very squat and zippy. Guys, I’m running out of adjectives, if you haven’t figured that out. The absolute best thing about the Mahaffey version, though, are the backing vocals on the second verse. I always sing “some are color, some are black and..” and “some are black, some are white” when I hear this song played live (which lately is never). The first version of this I ever downloaded only lasted right up to just after the solo and before the last chorus. I didn’t hear how insane Rollum went on the drums until much later. I remember that moment still and how absolutely floored I was. It’s still mind-blowing.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, UK album release (2005)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Live @ The Red Rose (February 28th, 2003)
Live @ Grimey’s (September 14th, 2004)

The Features
“See You Through”
Mahaffey Sessions (2000)

Here it is, the version of “See You Through” that I fell in love with almost eight years ago when I downloaded the first minute of it off a shoddy MTSU-class-based website. My ears treat this version as a classic, holding it in high regard. But in all honesty, I think the Krampf version recorded during the Exhibit A sessions captures the rare magic this song shoots out when played live much better.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues, US single release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Live @ 12th & Porter (June 21st, 2002)
Live @ 12th & Porter (August 24th, 2002)
Live @ the Red Rose (February 28th, 2003)
There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues, US single release (2004)

The Features
“Kari-Ann”
Live @ The Red Rose
February 28th, 2003

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, UK album release (2005)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Mahaffey Sessions (2000)
Live @ Grimey’s (September 14th, 2004)
Live @ The Exit/In (August 19th, 2005)

The Features
“Thursday”
Live @ The Red Rose
February 28th, 2003

You can her me yelling “hey” at the wrong time, all alone, after the la-da-da-da’s that precede the sped up tempo. I remember doing this, and I remember being embarrassed.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Thursday/Rabbit March, 10” single release (1999)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Thursday/Rabbit March, 10” single release (1999)
Live @ 12th & Porter (November 8th, 2003)

The Features
“Leave It All Behind”
Live @ 12th & Porter
August 24th, 2002

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)
Leave It All Behind, single release (2005)

LINEAGE:
Was “Stick Together” (same first verse)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Krampf Sessions (2002)
Live @ The Boro (May 2nd, 2002)

The Features
“Circus”
Rawlings Sessions (1999)

Brian Snyder had this to say on the Features message board about this recording:

“As to the Circus demo, I’m almost positive it was a Rawlings session recording, because I remember everyone being amused because Rollum absolutely insisted on beating on a cookie sheet on the recordings’ percussion. They weren’t really sessions per se. It was just a little thing at this guys’ house with a microphone hanging from a hole in the ceiling. Above the room with the mike, the Rawlings guy had a little attic room with a soundboard. That was the entire setup. It was mostly a handful of people sitting on a couch in the next room drinking beers, while one of the Features would be in the front room laying down a track.”

The other notable thing about this recording is that it was the only song from the Rawlings sessions to be released in any way. The song was given out at concerts in 2001 on a CD-R. The Mahaffey produced “33 1/3” also got this treatment at the same time.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS:
Live @ 12th & Porter (August 24th, 2002)
Live @ The Red Rose (February 28th, 2003)

The Features
“Exorcising Demons”
Exhibit A, album release (2004)

The album version of this classic Features song does away with the backing vocals of the Mahaffey version, but it does make up for it in terms of overall quality. This sounds like the mature version of the song that the band had been trying to make all along.

OTHER VERSIONS:
Rawlings Sessions (1999)
Mahaffey Sessions (2000)
Live @ The Red Rose (February 28th, 2003)

The Features
“Lions”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

It took a very, very long time, but they finally got it right. Parts of this song started out as “Stick Together” back around 2000 or 2001 and, through a couple reworkings, they eventually got this modern day Features masterpiece.

And that’s really what I consider it to be. This is the buzz song from the band’s second album, I believe. The opening vocal hook is infectious, and the explosion of propulsive pop that backs it up grabs you from head to toe and makes the former bob and the latter tap. I especially love the “aw girl, but what are you thinking” part, with that snoopy and sneaky bass line creeping underneath it. It’s coy and sly, you can picture Matt backing away from the mic and glaring at you, with a half smile (which I’m pretty sure is exactly what he does during this part of the song). The guitar solo is also masterful, an upward climbing bit of classic rock, elevating constantly.

As I mentioned earlier, “Lions” began as “Stick Together” way back when. The songs share a chorus and nothing else. “Stick Together” almost immediately became “Leave It All Behind” (as the two share a first verse) and the chorus of “Stick Together” was cast aside. That is until the band brought the chorus back in a song called “Lions Dressed In Leather” in January 2006. This version of the song lasted a brief time, as it debuted rather close to the band’s 2006 hiatus. Post-hiatus, the music of the song was reworked completely and transformed into “Lions” as we know it today. They also ditched the “dressed in leather” part which was probably for the better, as “lions dressed in leather” conjures up a very peculiar Disney/biker image in my head that I’d rather not be there. “Lions” has become a staple at shows over the last couple years from what I can gather from the few bootlegs and setlists that are out there. Rightfully so. It’s also a single from their second album, Some Kind of Salvation.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Some Kind of Salvation, album release (2008)

LINEAGE:
Was “Lions Dressed In Leather” (2006; fewer lyrics but all are the same, slightly modified chorus)
Originally “Stick Together” (2000; same chorus, slightly modified)