Comments (0)

By Rudy Klapper, February 20, 2012 12:30 pm

Quintessentially English quartet (brothers Dave and Peter Brewis pictured above) Field Music just released their fourth LP Plumb last week, and for fans of poppy, XTC-influenced guitar rock, it’s more of the (very good) same. 2010′s Measure was ambitious, even too much so as many (including myself) said, but Plumb tones down the song lengths and exploratory passages and ups the hooks. The end result is perfect for those who like creative riffs and instrumental interplay (particularly from drummer Peter Brewis, ex-Futurehead).

Field Music – “(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing”

Comments (0)

By Rudy Klapper, May 29, 2010 12:00 pm

The Futureheads – The Chaos

Nul Records 2010

Rating: 6/10

Sometimes you fall in love with something so fast and so hard that you become willing to forgive and forget even the harshest of transgressions. You get a glimpse of something true, something good, and you practically beg for more, oblivious to the fact that what was once the norm is now the exception. Relationships like this generally tend to self-destruct within a few years, but I still haven’t come to my senses when it comes to Sunderland, England foursome the Futureheads. Their 2004 self-titled debut was such a tasty slab of post-punk, that year’s rage, done so right that it was nearly impossible not to pogo along with. It was all sharp guitar angles, frantic stop-start rhythms, and irrepressibly poppy four-part harmony sung in those thick accents, heavy debts to XTC and Wire notwithstanding. Then came 2006’s disappointing, down tempo News and Tributes, then the bland, straightforward power-pop of This Is Not The World, and I was always about ready to call it quits, but there would be that one or two couple songs that harkened back to what this band could be capable of.

Alas, I must love abusive relationships, because The Chaos, while a definite upgrade from their previous efforts, still finds the band seemingly stuck on autopilot. It does find them happily return to their herky-jerky roots, where a song is more likely to come to a rapid full stop then all of a sudden burst into a punk singalong rather than flow along on vanilla power chords and routine drumming. It’s just that bright ray of hope that will no doubt have me purchasing whatever they release next, the promise of more songs like the brilliant thunder of the title track or the jagged pop glory of lead single “Struck Dumb.” Indeed, The Chaos contains more than its fair share of tunes that would have stood up well on their debut, and some, like the pile driving ADD rhythm of standout “The Collector” or the spacey, spiraling guitar work on “Jupiter,” that surpass it. Even a fairly by-the-numbers cry for radio play like “Heartbeat Song” succeeds on a sugary melody and singer Barry Hyde’s distinctive staccato yelp.

But whereas The Futureheads took post-punk in strange and new directions that left you disoriented as often as they exhilarated, The Chaos seems content to beat the standard formula to death on too many songs. “This is the Life” is all happy-go-lucky guitar bursts and machine-gun drumming with a change-of-pace chorus and gang vocals, but after the similar structures of “I Can Do That” and “Stop the Noise,” it’s more than a little predictable. It’s not that the songs are bad, or that the band is lacking energy (something that seemed definitely possible on their last two records); it’s that, frankly, the melodies and hooks just aren’t there. The Futureheads’ great secret wasn’t that the band could do a damn good XTC impression; it was that the songwriting was innovative, impressive, and most important of all, engaging. Their well-defined sense of fun is here, without a doubt, and the energy is at a high since their debut, but it just lacks that extra oomph, that bit of melodic weirdness and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants fearlessness that used to make the Futureheads such a unique face in the post-punk revival. But it’s still a much better record than I would have expected given their past directions, and the sly bastards remembered to throw in just enough tunes to keep me a believer, at least for another couple of years. I’ll always have my “Hounds of Love” cover to go crying back to when they hurt my feelings.

The Futureheads – “Heartbeat Song”

See larger image The Chaos (Audio CD) List Price: $12.99 USD New From: $3.75 In Stock Used from: $0.01 In Stock Release date June 1, 2010.

Comments (1)

By Rudy Klapper, March 3, 2010 12:00 pm

Field Music – Field Music (Measure)

Memphis Industries 2010

Rating: 7/10

Being British means a few things. You drink tea on a disturbingly regular basis. You wear sweaters at all times of year. You are fanatical about some odd sport called “football.” You may or may not require some heavy dental work. And if you play guitar and enjoy psychedelic rock, you are more likely than not a huge fan of Ray Davies, not to mention any number of scarf-wearing, mustachioed musicians. I cannot say for certain whether any of these things are true, but listening to Field Music’s third album, Field Music (Measure), I find it hard not to. The brothers David and Peter Brewis craft impeccably refined, undeniably British music, cribbing from any number of Anglo influences with all the pride of full-blooded Englishmen. It’s only been three years, but evidently the duo’s short-lived hiatus has resulted in a mammoth twenty-track record, one as ambitious in its scope as it is narrowed in its focus. That focus being, of course, to create the next XTC via ‘70s prog-rock album.

A song like the supremely bouncy “Effortlessly” or the jagged rock of ”All You’d Ever Need To Say” might fool listeners into thinking that Field Music have merely refined their power-pop aesthetic from 2007’s Tones of Town, but cherry picking a few tunes here and there from what is undoubtedly an intimidating album would be doing the band a disservice. Despite its eminently poppy nature and the accessible way the brothers Brewis continually harmonize, Measure is the kind of album that requires multiple listens to fully appreciate, a record that mixes David and Peter’s disparate natures into something that might be called prog-pop. It’s there in the dangerous opening lick of “In The Mirror,” where a threatening guitar riff raises the tension only to be deflated by the intensely jovial, intensely British pastoral jaunt of “Them That Do Nothing.” It’s an odd juxtaposition and one that immediately sets the tone for the rest of the album, a theme that can be succinctly summed up with one cliché: expect the unexpected.

Sure, there’s your typical XTC homage in the jittery “Each Time Is A New Time,” your odd hint of David Bowie in the title track, and the brothers do a damn fine John and Paul impression on their flawless harmonies, but Measure slowly and surely develops into its own beast as the first disc melts into the second. The little things you may have passed over in your first cursory listen to things start to pop out. The sharp angles and meticulously designed jabs and fuzzy riffs of the brother’s preferred mode of expression, the guitar, begin to take on a life of their own. A song like “Clear Water” defies easy categorization, as it runs the gamut from straightforward pop to murky experimentalism with little to no self-consciousness, while a tune like “Let’s Write A Book” knows how to use the guitar to propel a song forward and not overwhelm it, instead coloring in the edges with a variety of hand claps, studio effects, and space-age synths.

But for all their musical exploration, the backbone of Measure is that standard rock triptych, the guitar, bass, and drums, with an emphasis on GUITAR. It defines every song here, driving the rhythm, framing the brothers’ effortless harmonies, and creating riffs and passages often so deceptively mind-boggling that it’s hard to appreciate them the first time through. It’s what makes re-listening to Measure so pleasant, when one can see the band’s craftsmanship in placing a gentle wisp of a tune like “Precious Plans” before the instrumental metamorphosis of “See You Later” or the way a song like “The Rest Is Noise,” built on a number of layers, eventually disintegrates into the smoldering ballad “Curves of the Needle,” everything resting on a foundation of superb guitar work.

It’s also, unfortunately, what makes the album’s running time such a tough thing to overcome, and while the band’s finely constructed songs always stand out on their own, over the course of a twenty-song record things tend to muddle together into a haze of guitar and quintessentially British harmonies. As a double album, Measure lacks any concept or coherent instrumental theme (save maybe for the eternal importance of the guitar) to give it meaning, and thus makes what could have been two outstanding ten-song collections a rather staggering amount of material that too often fails to hold the listener’s long-term attention. It’s a shame, and really the only notable failing of Measure, but it’s a big one. But for a double-album as immense as this is and with little no filler that one might expect from such a grand project, it’s a record that rewards its listener, especially if said listener is not averse to taking breaks and returning with a fresh head. Perhaps with some tea and crumpets.

Field Music – “In The Mirror”

See larger image Field Music (Measure) (Audio CD) List Price: $19.98 USD New From: $10.23 In Stock Used from: $7.94 In Stock Release date February 16, 2010.