Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death

Given how central frontman Lawrence’s vocal style and the poetic romanticism of his lyrics were to Felt’s cult appeal, it might seem odd that they released two instrumental albums during their ten-year lifespan. Both their debut release for Alan McGee’s Creation and the first Felt album not to feature guitarist Maurice Deebank, the band’s fifth LP (retitled The Seventeenth Century on reissues) only runs to 18 minutes but is one of their best. Lawrence’s new musical foil and future Primal Scream keyboardist Martin Duffy provides the perfect complement to his delicate Tom Verlaine-inspired guitar lines and wistful melodies. Despite the record’s brevity, these ten tracks offer a rich, varied work of delicate beauty. The likes of breezy, autumnal opener “Song for William S. Harvey” and the languid, alluring “Indian Scriptures” provided a foundation they would build on further for the same year’s masterful Forever Breathes the Lonely World.