"Saskatoon’s Feral Children are becoming a crucial cog in the soundtrack of our salvation. In my opinion, Feral Children are one of the most important new bands in Canada. The original FC recordings were the bedroom musings of Davidson, a series of self-taught experiments in looping and noise, with happy accidents forming the edges. Now a proper band, they’re evolving; if their previous work is confused protozoa dwelling in murky primordial ooze, then their new, self-titled album — two years in the making — sprouts legs to walk on land, a purpose slowly forming in the design. Having a full band gives Davidson the opportunity to focus on his guitars and vocals, especially in a live setting. It was always his vision driving this project forward, now it’s literally his amazing and charismatic vocal performance that pushes the boundaries. The songs themselves are a whirl of hypnotic loops, psychedelic white guitar noise, and primal melodies, with Davidson hollering and whooping like the last sane man trying to bring the mad population back from the brink — or perhaps, a madman trying to bring the sane down with him. And yet, in some perverse way, Feral Children is also a pop band — even with everything going on here, there are no shortage of hooks and melodies to latch on to. Feral Children is the stone from the slingshot, flung through time, striking down that which we fear the most. Or maybe it’s just some shit that’s really fun to dance to. Either way, it takes us from being those terrified alley cats to entities making sense of the world — if only for the fleeting length of a jam." - Criag Silliphant from Planet S magazine in Saskatoon, Sk.
"Saskatchewan’s bosonic youth continue their fluorescent acceleration into celestial pop abandon. Dirty boots tumble in an Electrolux spin cycle of voltaic hiccups and stadium-sized axe swings, swirling atop candy-coloured halos to illuminate the cranium of feral brainchild Ryan Davidson. Church of the Kaos Pad cult is in session, so leave your reductions at the gate and get cleansed." Aaron Levin and Jesse Locke from WeirdCanada.com
"It seems like so long ago now that Feral Children -- which had up until late 2009 been the solo project of Saskatoon musician Ryan Davidson -- developed into a fully-formed four-piece band. Initially featuring Davidson on guitars, loops and vocals, Will Kaufold on Guitar, Sarah Charters on Bass and Nathan Youngs on drums, the band immediately exploded, adapting Davidson’s solo material with equal parts edge-of-insanity psych-rock power and frantic melodic groove. Since then, Youngs amicably left the band and was replaced by local multi-instrumentalist Bennett Dobni. Dobni was able to adopt some of the drum looping and sampling that Feral Children has become known for, giving Davidson more ability to embrace his role as frontman. There have been many releases under the Feral Children banner, but now with the band in tow, the brand new self-titled, self-released album distinctly starts a new chapter in the FC book. It provides the perfect introductory point for those previously unfamiliar with the band, and a great gateway into Davidson's solo back catalogue. The album starts off slow-and-steadily with lead track “Brand New Wave,” though with Davidson’s ferocious approach to vocals, the pace feels no less than fevered. Things really get going from there with the beat-driven, melodic and downright danceable “Free Fantasy” to the more aggressive, Sonic Youth-tinged “2012” and the previously seven-inch-released track, “Reverb.” This is the point where other ‘stand-out’ tracks would be mentioned, but it's hard when they all jump off the record in their own way. Whether they are dancefloor-ready, beat-filled jams or slow-burning psychedelic explorations (“So Far,” “This Is Where The Sun Is Now”), Feral Children has the uncanny ability to burn each melody and tune firmly on your brain, an affliction with only one cure: press play again." - Jay Allen from CFCR radio
"Saskatoon’s Feral Children began inauspiciously as the lo-fi bedroom project of Ryan Davidson. Harbouring electro-loops with a Spock-like stoicism of etherealness, the otherworldly pop sounds would suddenly bow to Davidson’s psyched-out screams of “KHAN!” without the heavy-weighted dramatics of William Shatner. Heady stuff, but on their first recording as a full band, Feral Children have released their most realized album to date.
Capturing the atmosphere of a drugged-out house party and making it howl with too-loud guitars and malfunctioning strobe lights, Feral Children takes sound collages and tosses them fitfully onto the floor with a howl and a yelp. However, kicky dance beats and unassuming bass lines somehow manage to keep the aural mess contained to one room." - Chris Morin from Ominocity.com
Recorded by Steve Reed at The Robot Homestead in Saskatoon, SK, Cananda in 2010 and 2011
Mixing and Editing by Steve Reed, Ryan Scott Davidson, Will Kaufhold and Bennett Dobni
Mastered by Trevor Greenbank
Art by Benjamin Hettinga
guitar, beats, drums on track 5, all vocals by Ryan Scott Davidson
guitar by Will Kaufhold
bass by Sarah Charters
drums on all but 5 and 6 by Nathan Young
drums on track 6 by Bennett Dobni
Feral Children
since 2005
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