"Feeding the Family" is a song by Australian

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

Spacey Jane Spacey Jane are an Australian indie rock band from Fremantle, which formed in 2016. The group consists of Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu (guitar), Caleb Harper (vocals, guitar), Kieran Lama (drums) and, since 2019, Peppa Lane (bass guitar). Their debu ...

, released on 29 September 2017 as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

to their debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, '' No Way to Treat an Animal''. It achieved double platinum status in Australia in 2024 for selling more than 140,000 units. The track is often credited with the band's rise in popularity, and has been described by many publications as their breakthrough hit.

Composition and release

Regarding the song's composition, frontman Caleb Harper claimed himself and drummer Kieran Lama had "been sitting on the progression for a while".

Lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu's opening

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was "materialised on the spot", with Harper revealing “I remember being so blown away by how Ashton wrote that – almost simultaneously". The song was released on 29 September 2017, premiered at Mojo's Bar in Fremantle, as the second single to the band's debut EP '' No Way to Treat an Animal'' (2017). Its cover art was handled by visual artist Alice Ford. In 2022, "Feeding the Family" achieved certified ARIA platinum status in Australia for selling more than 70,000 units. As of February 2023, the track has over 35 million streams on Spotify.

Reception

The track was labelled "an immediate radio hit" by '' Time Out'' upon its release. Ali Shutler of ''

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'' called the track a "wonky-indie gem with buckets of personality", while Australian music publication ''Pilerats'' claimed the single to "disregard psychedelic sensibilities and pay homage to a cleaner, harder rock sound". Writing for ''Scenestr'', Gareth Bryant wrote "Feeding the Family" is a "sensational ear-worm with an infectious riff". In 2022, the track polled at number 44 on

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

radio station

RTRFM RTRFM (call sign: 6RTR) is a not-for-profit, community radio station based in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is self-funded, largely through listener subscription and fund-raising events. However, it does carry some "advertis ...

's countdown which ranked the '45 Greatest Songs from Western Australia'.

Legacy

Many publications including ''

'' and the '' Canberra Times'' have described "Feeding the Family" as Spacey Jane's breakout single. Music outlet ''AU Review'' claimed the band's "trajectory has generally been upward since they burst on to the scene in 2017" with the track, and ''Tone Deaf'' explicitly credited the song for the group "fast becoming a favourite of music fans across the whole country". Online magazine ''Clash'' wrote it was "arguably the song that first cemented Spacey Jane as a big game player". Despite Harper claiming the band "don't love playing" the song live anymore, saying it has "gotten a bit old", it remains a mainstay on their set lists. In September 2022, during

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's annual radio event 'Requestival', the

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party. McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...

personally requested the station to play "Feeding the Family". He introduced the song before it played, concluding "there's some great talent coming out of

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Certifications

Release history

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

. Spacey Jane * Caleb Harper – vocals, guitar, writing * Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu – lead guitar, writing * Kieran Lama – drums, writing * Amelia Murray – bass guitar, writing Additional personnel * Dave Parkin – producer * Calum McLaughlin – recording * Nick Ireland – recording, mixing * Rob Grant – recording, mastering * Alice Ford –

cover artwork Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album ar ...

Notes

References

{{Spacey Jane 2017 singles Spacey Jane songs Songs written by Caleb Harper