Field Music, Tones of Town
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If there was a barrier to commercial success in Field Music’s self-titled 2005 debut it was that the note-perfect pop was constantly interrupted by rhythmic innovations. The drums cutting through the vocal harmonies was both praised as part of their inventive sound and criticised as difficult to follow, with some critics dismissing the band as part of the ‘angular’ scene.
It is ironic, then, that the very thing that made the debut so interesting should add a note of banality to their follow-up. The tricks of rhythm that pepper Tones of Town have become such a familiar trademark that they fade into the background; fortunately the songwriting that this exposes is wonderful enough to take centre stage.
The playground melodies of upcoming single A House Is Not A Home and Supertramp-influenced piano of Sit Tight and A Gap Has Appeared underline a very British pop sensibility that sits beside the aforementioned inventiveness, especially in the fantastic bass solo that closes In Context.
This will not be the album that catapults Field Music to the heights of their fellow Mackam scenesters Maximo Park and The Futureheads but is all the better for having retained an endearingly knotty intricacy.
Out now.
