Press release –
New Jersey-based Indie-rock pioneers, the Feelies, have announced that their only live performances of 2026 will be at the White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey, May 22 and 23, in celebration of their 50th anniversary as a band. On that Saturday they’ll be performing their seminal debut album Crazy Rhythms in its entirety along with other repertoire. In honor of the 40th anniversary of the release of The Good Earth, they’ll perform that album in its entirety as well as material from throughout their long career on Friday. 2026 also marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Jonathan Demme’s film Something Wild, in which the Feelies make a memorable appearance performing startling versions of David Bowie’s “Fame” and Neil Diamond’s “I’m A Believer.”
Formed in Haledon NJ in the 1970’s, The Feelies have now released eight albums including their critically acclaimed and influential debut Crazy Rhythms, which was voted 49 in the top 100 albums of the 1980s by Rolling Stone magazine and chosen by Spin Magazine as #49 of the best alternative records of all time. Their music has left an indelible mark on the landscape of rock and roll. Supporting the release of their first four albums the band appeared on the The Late Show With David Letterman and in concerts with The Patti Smith Group, R.E.M., and Bob Dylan as well as touring with Lou Reed.
In 2008, the Feelies ended a 17-year sabbatical as a group to open for long-time admirers Sonic Youth at Battery Park and then resurrected their tradition of playing low key gigs at strategic intervals throughout the year rather than doing lengthy tours. In 2009, they were invited by R.E.M. to perform at Carnegie Hall in “The Music of REM” charity concert benefitting music education programs for underprivileged youth, then by the artist Dan Graham to play an acoustic set at the opening of his first American retrospective, held at the Whitney Museum: Dan Graham: Beyond at the Whitney Museum of American Art. That same year Bar/None re-issued Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth, this being the first band-sanctioned CD release of the former.
In 2011, they released a new studio album Here Before of which England’s The Wire enthused, “Here Before picks up as though they’d never left. The second line- up is fully present, and the basics of their sound have filtered through so many younger bands (from Yo La Tengo to SF Seals to The Chills) that the music possesses a great kind of faux- familiarity. ‘Time Is Right’ sounds something like The Terminals doing a Stooges tribute tune. It – and some of the Velvets riff – lifts that occur during the album’s later moments- make me remember how nuts this group seemed 30-plus years ago.”
In honor of the group’s 40th anniversary Bar/None Records re-released their third and fourth albums, Only Life and Time for a Witness in early 2015. 2017’s In Between was recorded in the midst of these celebrations. The album found them bringing fresh sonic maneuvers into the mix that make it both the quietest and most furious music they’ve created in their long and vaunted career. The twin-guitar attack of songwriters and founders Mercer and Million has remained at the core of the group’s infectious sound all along, paired with the driving rhythmic team of drummer Stan Demeski and percussionist Dave Weckerman, with Brenda Sauter’s bass guitar proving a rock-solid foundation.
In 2022, the Feelies reactivated their alter ego, the Willies which had been an important vehicle for experimentation for Feelies mainstays Glenn Mercer and Bill Million during the period between the release of their debut Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth their second album. The Willies, featuring all the Feelies’ members, perform original instrumentals including vintage numbers like “The Obedient Atom” as well as interpretations of instrumental works by Brian Eno, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix. Toni and John Baumgartner of longstanding NJ Art-folk outfit Speed The Plough are special guests on several numbers.
The following year, they released their first-ever live collection, Some Kinda Love, a document of an extensive retrospective set of songs written for the Velvet Underground, recorded at a sold-out White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, NJ on October 13. 2018, produced by Feelies founders Bill Million and Glenn Mercer. The concert was staged in conjunction with the opening of The Velvet Underground Experience exhibition in the East Village at the request of its curators.
2025 saw the release of their eighth album, Rewind. The project grew out of the simple desire to make their interpretation of Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot” available on the streaming services. But one thing led to another and it grew into this collection of cover versions of songs they’d recorded during various studio sessions over the history of the band.
Their music has been featured in the films Married to the Mob, Prelude to a Kiss, The Truth About Charlie, The Squid & the Whale and Ricki and the Flash. Mercer and Million wrote music for Susan Seidelman’s film Smithereens. Acclaimed American novelist, Rick Moody, cited The Good Earth as the inspiration for his debut 1992 novel Garden State. Rolling Stone has cited The Feelies as “a template of formal perfection.” They have influenced bands like R.E.M., Real Estate and WEEZER.
