It’s hard to know what to make of Felix. The trio, comprised of pianist and vocalist Lucinda Chua, guitarist Chris Summerlin and drummer Neil Turpin, got a bit of a break when Stars of the Lid backed them ahead of signing to the renowned Kranky Records. However their music shares almost nothing with their illustrious fans in the ambient world. The songs here are essentially two or three minute piano led pop songs or, at least, they are masquerading as such.
It really is hard to put one’s finger on what it is Felix are aiming for here. Opener 'The Bells' is a pleasant enough chamber pop piano ditty if you ignore its clunky lyrics (“How do you know about all this stuff / How did I not know you when I lived in Shepherd’s Bush?”) but it genuinely sets the tone for almost every other song on the album. The guitar and drums are almost exclusively way off in the background whilst Chua plinkety plonks away on the piano at the front of the mix. It’s hard to imagine how a band comprising of three people could get much further away from traditional ‘power trio’ territory. Some may argue that this is just Felix sticking to their strengths but, to put it bluntly, after thirteen songs one rather wishes they would explore areas away from their ‘strengths’ after all.
Lyrically this is a bit of a mess. The last song seems to be an ode (metaphorical or otherwise) to a sweet tasting biscuit and, with the exception of the rather charming 'Hate Song', the attempts at dry humour tend to fall rather flat. When she does appear to be sincere meanwhile she suffers from being a rather unengaging vocal presence. There is not anything to dislike about her voice, there just isn’t anything to make you want to hear more either. Musically these songs are hardly attention arresting and so the failure of the vocals to make up this shortfall is disappointing.
All in all, Felix are a funny little band. They appear to want to write pop songs, perhaps in the twee vein of Belle & Sebastian, yet there is something curiously unwelcoming about pretty much everything on this record. There is the odd high point ('Pretty Girls' being the best on the album) but there really is not very much keeping the listener interested. Thus 'Oh Holy Molar' becomes one of those records that, although it is rarely outright bad, just becomes rather tedious, which is a colossal shame.
'Oh Holy Molar' is out via Kranky on Monday 23rd April.
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It really is hard to put one’s finger on what it is Felix are aiming for here. Opener 'The Bells' is a pleasant enough chamber pop piano ditty if you ignore its clunky lyrics (“How do you know about all this stuff / How did I not know you when I lived in Shepherd’s Bush?”) but it genuinely sets the tone for almost every other song on the album. The guitar and drums are almost exclusively way off in the background whilst Chua plinkety plonks away on the piano at the front of the mix. It’s hard to imagine how a band comprising of three people could get much further away from traditional ‘power trio’ territory. Some may argue that this is just Felix sticking to their strengths but, to put it bluntly, after thirteen songs one rather wishes they would explore areas away from their ‘strengths’ after all. 
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