4 out of 5

Label: Communion

Produced by: TFUL 282

How I miss the Fellers.

Now, to that album title: a prayer to the passing unidentified object, a wish to be whisked from your daily mundanity?  Or perhaps something more direct: hopes that Hope It Lands does just that during its runtime?  Why not both?  And why not, in Feller fashion, satisfy both needs, whilst chortling mischievously at the same time?

The early releases in the TFUL282 catalogue – mostly their Matador stuff – seem to get the acclaim, but it was this post “fame” stuff that really earned my ears.  And it wasn’t a big shift, really, as the group always had a natural weirdness and tendency to mix nigh-singles with dithering – which certainly holds true on I Hope it Lands – but there seemed like a subconscious sigh of relief after Strangers from the Universe; like the TFUL cult was officially satisfied and now the creatives could slink off and let others run the business while they pursued their joy.  Meaning: the message was received, and college rock didn’t all have to be Pavement, but could mash that sound into math rock and post-rock and pop and improv and be okay.  So I Hope it Lands feels somewhat celebratory, the album’s first half being the group’s best batch of songs and filler ever delivered: squiggly, anthemic, poppy, caustic, catchy, edgy.  The noodling in-between makes for fantastic bridges between these celebrations, peaking in the operatic, terrorful boasts of Brains.  …And hitting ten tracks, we can only “hope it lands,” which is where the album grins sheepishly and shuffles out the backdoor.  The remaining tracks are mostly filler, albeit of the TFUL282 variety, meaning still worthwhile, and still memorable… but nothing on the level of what preceded it.  It’s really okay, though: I, too, would be exhausted after such a perfect opening salvo.