The Features
High-voltage indie rock fueled by vintage organ stabs and restless energy. A kinetic mix of 60s garage grit and 2000s melodic precision for long drives.
High-voltage indie rock fueled by vintage organ stabs and restless energy. A kinetic mix of 60s garage grit and 2000s melodic precision for long drives.
The Features sound like a band that has spent a decade playing in a basement and finally found the light switch. There is a frantic, coiled-spring energy to their music, defined by Matt Pelham’s urgent vocals and a rhythm section that feels like it’s constantly leaning forward. It is indie rock that refuses to be lazy, trading in the slackness of their contemporaries for a tight, almost nervous precision that recalls the best of the New Wave era while remaining firmly rooted in Southern garage rock.
What truly sets them apart is the prominent use of vintage-sounding keys and organs. Instead of providing a soft bed for the guitars, the keyboards often lead the charge with staccato stabs and swirling textures that give the music a psychedelic, slightly off-kilter edge. It is the sound of a band that knows exactly how to write a pop hook but chooses to deliver it with a snarl and a twitch.
Start with 'Exhibit A' to hear them at their most commercially polished yet creatively vibrant. Tracks like 'The Way It’s Meant to Be' showcase their ability to balance melodic accessibility with a raw, live-wire intensity that explains why they became a legendary live act in the Nashville scene.
The Features is an American indie rock band from Sparta, Tennessee. The Features have released six full-length studio albums, three EPs, two compilation albums, and 18 singles. The current lineup of the band comprises lead singer/guitarist Matt Pelham, bassist Roger Dabbs, drummer Rollum Haas, and keyboardist Mark Bond. Their sound was described as “somewhere between the pure rock 'n' roll of the British Invasion and the electronic, synth-happy beats that characterized ‘80s pop.” The Features formed in 1994 and signed with Nashville’s Spongebath Records in 1997. Called “the greatest rock band Nashville has ever seen,” they released two EPs and a pair of singles before signing with Universal Records in 2003. With a lineup of Pelham, Dabbs, Haas, and keyboardist Parrish Yaw, The Features’ first full-length album, Exhibit A, was released by Universal the following year, and they promoted the record by touring with fellow Tennessee-based band Kings of Leon. Amid creative differences between the band and label, Universal Records dropped The Features two weeks before they were scheduled to enter the studio to make their second full-length record. Soon after, Yaw left the band and was replaced by Bond. The Features self-released an EP, Contrast, in 2006, and then self-released their second full-length album, Some Kind of Salvation, in 2008. The following year, Kings of Leon started a new record label imprint called Serpents & Snakes for the sole purpose of signing The Features. The band would re-release Some Kind of Salvation and release their next two full-length albums – 2011’s Wilderness and a self-titled album in 2013 – on the Serpents & Snakes label. Two of their songs – “How It Starts” and “This Disorder” – charted in the Top 40 of Billboard's Alternative Songs chart. The Features twice appeared as a musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Their songs have been featured in television advertisements, video games, and movies. The Features’ fifth full-length album, Sunset Rock, was released in 2015, but the band went on hiatus the following year. An album recorded earlier in their career, The Mahaffey Sessions 1999, was released by YK Records in 2023. Over the past several years, The Features have only reunited on rare occasions for charitable events.
Shares energetic, playful, restless (moods); indie rock, garage rock, power pop (subgenres)
Shares indie rock, indie pop, garage rock (subgenres); analog warmth, studio polished, hand played (production style)
Shares indie rock, garage rock, power pop (subgenres); intense, raspy, harmonized (vocal style)
Shares indie rock, garage rock, new wave (subgenres); analog warmth, studio polished, hand played (production style)
Shares indie rock, garage rock, new wave (subgenres); energetic, playful, restless (moods)
Shares indie rock, indie pop, garage rock (subgenres); analog warmth, studio polished, hand played (production style)
Shares indie rock, indie pop, power pop (subgenres); intense, raspy, harmonized (vocal style)
Shares intense, raspy, harmonized (vocal style); garage rock, power pop, indie rock (subgenres)
Shares organ, restless, garage rock, hand played (signature)
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