The Feelies Reunite Old Sound And New Story

Over the years, one observation has consistently rung true about guitar-driven, avant-garde pop-rockers The Feelies.

They lack typical stage presence. And it’s completely understandable. After all, the five-piece band took a 17-year hiatus.

But even when they were at their height in the 1970s and ’80s, they only played a smattering of live shows. It also didn’t help that their lead singer, Glenn Mercer, was elected frontman by default.

“I’m very shy and not the singer type,” Mr. Mercer said during a recent telephone interview. “But I think that worked in our favor because the audiences identify with me a little bit. It became our trademark. It’s not that we don’t like performing. It’s just that we’re all quiet people.”

Feelies fans have had five decades to accept it, Mr. Mercer said, though nearly two of those were spent anxiously awaiting the band’s return. Now, they’re finally back, both with their most recent album, “Here Before,” and a limited tour, making a stop on Saturday, April 26, at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center—the first East End show for the band, which was born in New Jersey.

Their story began in the mid-1970s, when the punk era was about to explode. Mr. Mercer and Bill Million first played together in a band called The Outkids after meeting on the local music scene as young boys years earlier. They bonded over their mutual love for bass, though they both switched to guitar, and obscure music.

“Our first couple shows were high school dances, which were pretty bizarre,” Mr. Mercer said. “One of them, the teacher came up and said, ‘Play something they know, you’re losing them.’ I said, ‘We just played a Beatles song. We just did.’ It was a means to an end.”

The Outkids eventually transitioned into The Feelies. And after a few band members came and went, Mr. Mercer and Mr. Million started looking for a new singer.

They only auditioned one. He was an “Iggy [Pop] clone,” Mr. Mercer said, except he called himself “Eggy.”

“During the audition, he was jumping around like there was an audience there, rolling on the ground,” he said. “We were looking at each other, trying to keep from laughing. We realized we’re not going to find anybody around here. I was elected to be the singer.”

It worked in their favor. The Village Voice dubbed the then-unsigned Feelies “The Best Underground Band in New York” in 1978, officially putting them on the map. About one year later, they signed with Sniff and their first album, “Crazy Rhythms,” was released. It was marked by nervous drumming, unconventional silences between songs and a catchy guitar sound. They had graduated from underground bars to New York clubs and people knew their names and lyrics—shouting them whenever they could catch a glimpse of the band on stage.

“We were into live shows. We just weren’t into playing live shows night after night,” Mr. Million said during a recent telephone interview. “We’ve never fit the typical template of a rock band. For other bands, they’d go out and go on tour for a year straight. For us, an excessive amount of playing was six weeks. We had to go to Europe and play and traipse all over. That put the band on edge. It was one of those things that wasn’t a good fit for us. It never has been.”

Frustrated and disenchanted, the band fell apart in 1992. Mr. Million, who moved to Florida, was the self-admitted “instigator,” he said, after he lost his inspiration for playing.

“We had always talked about, collectively, that if and when that moment came for any of us, we would stop and take a break,” he said. “The break just turned out to be pretty long.”

It wouldn’t be until June 30, 2008, that the five-member line-up—Dave Weckerman, Brenda Sauter, Stan Demeski and the two founders—would reunite. It wouldn’t be until 2011 that they would put out their newest album. And it wouldn’t be until now that they truly appreciate what they have together, musically.

“We didn’t want it to be a pure nostalgia thing,” Mr. Mercer said. “We realized that would always be an element, and that’s fine. But we have a new story.”

The Feelies will play the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 26, at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $35. For more information, call 288-1500 or visit whbpac.org.