How Does it Feel to be Loved: The Scenics Play the Velvet Underground by The Scenics

The Scenics had two songwriters and a large catalogue of original material, but they also loved playing songs by their musical heroes. "How Does it Feel" showcases the Scenics explosive take on 10 songs by the Velvet Underground.  Selections reach back to their second gig (as the "Scenic Caves", early 1977). "How Does it Feel" charted top 30 on the National Canadian Campus Charts. Cover Photo by award winning NYC photographer Harvey Wang.

"Top 10 CDs of 2008, J Morgan, Village Voice Pazz and Jop Survey"

"Only a madman would dare to start picking his top 10 albums of 2008 in the first week of January, but this is one record that!s got me gnawing on my straitjacket...the best VU tribute album ever... the Scenics don't ape the Velvets, they enhance them...  Detroit Metro Times  "Media Blackout" January 2/2008

"Stunning in the same way that the Byrds playing Bob Dylan was so stellar. This is a must...8/10 " (Johnson Cummins) The Montreal Mirror 

“Furious sound and alluring grit- Particularly creative”  National Post Disc of the Day

“there's plenty more in which to delight on this... the Scenics'  irreverent, slightly woozy way with a Lou Reed tune, and gift for shrieking twin-guitar meltdowns, comes through just fine. Constant chatter in the background of some tunes contributes to the overall feeling of psychedelic dislocation the band brought to songs like "Here She Comes Now" and its take-no-prisoners assault on "Sister Ray." A dandy little history lesson.”  Ben Rayner’s Reasons to Live, The Toronto Star

“Kicking off like a frayed electric shock... jangly inverted pop aesthetics & wild mood swings of feverish noise...an abrasive wash of harmonious distortion..impressive even three decades after its original recording.”        EXCLAIM Magazine

   “Recorded live in a  number of trashy  Toronto punk dives  between 1977 and 1981,  it's the first album of Velvet     Underground covers I've ever heard that actually manages to evoke the VU's classic cacophony of studio sound .... Doesn't seek to duplicate the Velvets' sound so much as it uses that primal distortion as a jumping off point to differentiate themselves from the masters while remaining true to the source...the fact that all 10 numbers were recorded, in true live Velvets tradition, on a buncha crappy cassette tapes doesn't tarnish the Scenics' sonic patina — it only enhances their chances of making this the best VU tribute album ever...  They mine the less-obvious depths of Unca Lou's songbook to essay what are arguably some of his greatest songs.... it all culminates literally live  in a basement with a twisted 10-minute Metal Machine Music-meets-Television version of "Sister Ray" that even John Cale never envisioned in his  wildest nightmares.  The Scenics don't ape the Velvets, they enhance them..." Detroit Metro Times "Media Blackout"

“A reminder of and an introduction to the beast that was The Scenics... The Scenics built off of the abrasive drone of the Velvets, warping it into their own menacing hypnotic genius. 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....they 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.” Mike Wood, musicemissions.com

“hearing these high intensity, innovative, sincere, lofi recordings is magnificient...an essential record”    Roctober  (Chicago)                                     

 HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE LOVED: THE SCENICS PLAY THE VELVET UNDERGROUND CD, Dream Tower Records DT01. Recorded 1977-1981 live at The Edge, The Cabana Room, The Horseshoe, Larry’s Hideaway, Dixon Hall, Beverley Tavern, Scenics’ Basement. (all Toronto).   Released January 2008 Canada, July 2008 USA. Produced by Andy Meyers. Cover Photo © Harvey Wang, Design by David Montle.