Album Details

• Artist: The Scenics
• Album: How Does It Feel To Be Loved
• Label: Scratch
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2008-02-17

Like Simply Saucer, The Scenics are a legendary Canadian band barely known in their own country, let alone elsewhere. Both bands built off of the abrasive drone of the Velvets, warping it into their own menacing hypnotic genius. "how does it feel to be loved" makes that debt explicit, but is more than just a set of Velvet Underground covers: it is also a reminder o and an introduction to the beast that was The Scenics.

Recorded in the late 1970's, these covers were taken from various live gigs around Ontario, and show the band inspired and cheeky. While the highlight is a ten-minute plus eviscerating of "Sister Ray," what the band does with songs like "I'm Beginning to see the Light" and "Here She Comes Now" is what is remarkable. They manage to inject warmth into dark tracks, and sarcasm into Lou Reed's more hopeful tunes; in a way, they expose deeper meanings to the songs, while maintaining a seeming reverence for the original material. Pretty gutsy for 1977. While the Scenics naturally had a sped-up pub rock sound typical to the era, on their Velvets covers, show themselves to be smart and willing to take risks, even with the songs of legends. At a time when covers were an excuse for punk bands to tear down, The Scenics were rising above.

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