Those who thought the long overdue success of ‘The Futureheads’ and the recent rise of the increasingly mega Maximo Park were merely locational coincidences, will now be proved very wrong indeed. Because, here, continuing the North East's take over of British pop is the startling debut LP from Field Music.
Chiming in with a chord not too far off the ringing strum that begins ‘A Hard Days Night’ and drifting off some twelve tracks later with a lulling guitar tick, there is variety and inrigue at every turn. If it’s not the sumptuous vocal arrangements that swim around the drum thuds of ‘You’re So Pretty’, it’s the twinkling organ that wanders through ‘It’s Not The Only Way To Feel Happy’. If the opening guitar pulse of ‘If Only The Moon Were Up’ is all a bit too ‘Decent Days And Nights’ for you, then just wait for the helter-skeltering descent of the chorus – Madness never sounded so psychedelic. What is most interesting about this record, apart from it’s self-assured collection of off-beat laments is the amount of exciting doorways it flings open for the future. This is the sound of a band just beginning to show what a a rather intense friendship they’ve begun with the studio. What riches!
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8Ross Bennett's Score