Josh Clayton-Felt Marc Weingarten In a lo-fi, post-rock era, Josh Clayton-Felt dares to be ambitious. On his debut solo album, Inarticulate Nature Boy (A&M), Felt not only plays all instruments (and plays them well); he also tosses off one lustrous, ingeniously crafted pop gem after another. Doesn't Felt realize that verses, bridges and hooks are outré these days? "That's just a trend," says Felt. "If it becomes trendy to write good songs again then people will start writing good songs. It's almost as if artists are afraid to be melodic." No one would accuse Felt of shying from creamy harmonies and multiple chord changes. An unabashed fan of '70's AM radio, the Boston native formed the band School Of Fish in the late '80's with partner Michael Ward, only to find their brand of quirky pop register nary a blip on the sales charts. When School Of Fish split, Felt began recording demos at a furious clip. "I must've written and demoed about 25 songs after School Of Fish broke up." says the guitarist. To provide accompaniment for his homemade tapes, "I learned keyboards and bass and started playing drums - which I found was the toughest thing to do." But he liked what he heard on the demos enough to record his album the same way, sans backing band. "I thought it sounded more personal," says Felt, "I would've felt phoney if all of a sudden I just hired a studio band to play these songs. I do my best work when i'm on my own anyway, I don't have to justify what i'm doing to four other people.