Feeder - Sweet 16

This week we have a track from Welsh indie rockers Feeder, and it's one of those posts where I will desparately try to avoid both feeling old and sounding like a 'I was there before they were cool' hipster, and will probably fail at both.  

The band emerged from the rock / britpop scene in the late 1990s but it wasn't until 2003 when they had their real breakthrough hit with the single Buck Rogers (yep, that's the one about the "brand new car").  The song and the accompanying album, Echo Park, marked a turning point for them as they adopted a more commercial sound which they've more or less maintained ever since.  And that's not a bad thing at all, there's no arguing that they've been consistently churning out well received albums ever since and they're one of the few acts from that era that are still around and still creatively putting in the effort instead of just coasting on past successess.  However I can't help but miss what came before...

You see before Echo Park, Feeder were a bit of different.  They had a bit of a heavier, grungier and angrier sound, particularly on their first couple of releases, and it's into that particular bag of delights that we're reaching for this week's pick and pulling out Sweet 16.  Fans of the original Gran Turismo game on the Playstation might recognise this one (yep, there's the feeling old part) as it featured prominently, but it's also the opening track on their early EP, Swim.  It's catchy, it's got a bit of screaming, and lyrically it's pretty dark.  Everything you need to cheer you up for the weekend .. right?