Baby Teeth

1 Permission For Sleep
2:42

About Album

During the summer of 2008 The Feeding Fingers spent four months recording their sophomore album “Baby Teeth”. With “Baby Teeth”, the group has collaborated and recorded a collection of music whose initial intent is to stand on its own two feet as a work in its own right and not as a by-product of Curfman’s over-reaching ambition. “Baby Teeth” is the first proper Feeding Fingers album.

The Feeding Fingers are frequently compared to Joy Division, Cocteau Twins, The Cure, The Chameleons, Bauhaus, and the like. Within the darker spectrum of the post-punk sub-genre, the Feeding Fingers have “a definite appeal to those who crave an element of dark surrealism in their music.”

“…darkly romantic, full of throbbing, single-note bass, alternately soaring and screeching guitar lines, icy-cold drum lines and vocals which are a mourning wail…I like this a whole hell of a lot.” – Gordon Lamb

Label
Artists
Genres
Release Date
January 27, 2009

Available Lyrics

Permission For Sleep

Album Review

Do you like The Cure? So do Feeding Fingers. Or, if they don't, they've made the curious decision to make an album that sounds like classic Cure songs, heard for the first time. The lack of originality isn't a problem per se, this three piece sound more like classic Cure than Robert Smith and chums do these days. "Neverlight" has throbbing bass, echoing piano and a tortured Robert Smith style wail. It's spritely and engaging, despite the mournful atmosphere. If you've worn out your copy of Seventeen Seconds then you should check this song out. The terrifyingly-titled "She Hides Disease" sounds more like Faith-era Cure, complete with chiming guitar and suffocating atmosphere. "Baby Teeth" is more of the same. It passes agreeably. "Is Heaven All That You Hear" manages to strike a balance - funereal, without descending into dirge. It is enlivened by some unearthly zapping noises, which sound better than you might think. "Permission For Sleep" sees the tempo rise, with some sizzling synths and frantic percussion. "This Isn't Enough" has moody synths a la Depeche Mode. The repetitive piano adds to the feeling of despair, in a good way. The excellently-titled "Plain Faced Afternoon" sees Feeding Fingers use the 'strings' setting on their synth to powerful effect. We're back in Faith-era Cure territory. "No Movement In Water" has excellent bass work high in the mix. The percussion is also particularly strong. "Your Name In A Stolen Book" brings matters to a close. There's a hint of Peter Murphy in the vocals. Feeding Fingers aren't breaking any new ground, but if you are looking for something that combines what you love from the past with the thrill of the new, then Feeding Fingers are well worth investigating. - Stuart Moses

Hard-Wired

Not that they’d ever get away with it, but Feeding Fingers don’t try and shrug of The Cure influences which litter their work. It’s just inevitable and obvious, but it doesn’t actually matter. Once you get past the forlorn vocal similarities, you cannot help but be impressed by how almost adhoc and organically outré the recording is, so that it sounds like the drumming and bass are enjoying an exposed post-punk workout while the chilled keyboards are restful and serene, as the singing agonises, sweetly pained. It’s like Dr Who going back to 1979 determined to spruce things up a bit, and it’s a record I suspect 99% of you will adore. ‘Neverlight’ moves slowly and deliciously around you, gradually winding itself tighter, exquisitely, bravely simple in delivery and as well balanced as the best trios are. ‘She Hides Disease’ flows in an airier manner, the guitar offering sorrowful pleasantries and the vocals all but detaching and floating away on bitter thermals. ‘Baby Teeth’ then escalates the low level sonic hostility by moving in unison, the bass growing adventurous, as the synth rotates and the vocals slap the walls of despair. A stormier ‘Is Heaven All That You Hear’ is equally forthright and yet cautiously beautiful, recurring mini waves of energy turning it into a restless carpet of sound beneath the fading vocals. ‘Permission For Sleep’ breaks up the mood with some agitated synth led sparring and a wild claim about stealing a piece of the criminal mind. (Everyone needs a hobby.) ‘This Isn’t Enough’ also impresses as our host worries about his reputation with clonking piano caresses, discreet percussion and sonorous synth, so it’s all going rather well. ‘Plain Faced Afternoons’ is pretty weird, the drums smacking it out steadily, the synth suspended coldly and the vocals like a crying suicidal gull strung out between them, albeit a gull with shaggy black hair and smeared lipstick. One of those. ‘No Movement In Water’ cunningly maintains upward momentum with more versatile drum movement, the guitar detaches and roves around as a spindly delight, around punchy vocal and pugnacious bass. Lovely. As they close with bewitching organ dominating the shuffling ‘Your Name In A Stolen Book’ you do wonder why they make such wonderful music and don’t iron out these clear similarities so that nobody need appraise their work by making such comparisons. They have it within them to be entirely their own entity, and a fascinating one at that. Can I suggest that at future rehearsals they introduce a Cure Box, with a five dollar fine per outrage? That should temper their devotion and encourage them to stand alone, stand proud, and lead on. A gorgeous record.

Unknown reviewer

Available On

YouTube
Bandcamp

Latest Video

Back to top