Field Music: Tones Of Town
there is an album that has gotten so much play in my headphones over the last week that i wake up, go to sleep, walk the sidewalks, brush my teeth to the beat of the songs. i mean it, i mean it. i'm completely and utterly obsessed with it right now, and it's about to get a rave review here on NfT. if you're sick of my raving lately, i don't know what to tell you. it's called good luck.

lovely, jangly, poppy, happy and British, but not the Kooks (by any means). your ears perk, yes? and they should. they are Field Music, and they're back with a new full-length LP (UK readers: "you have it?" US readers: "who?"), called Tones Of Town. this thing is amazing. i'm going to go ahead and tell you it's the best pop i've heard from overseas all year, just to make a point. they take their cue from old giants (Beatles) and the mediocrity of today's Kooks and mix it with a new depth to take much more seriously. they're talented as hell, expertly employing a wide range of sounds (strings!) and producing a complete work of art, often stringing songs together, flowing one into the next almost undetectably (until you try to pick mp3s to share). Tones Of Town has been the perfect remedy to pick me up in the face of this ever-colder city, snapping my steps to a new beat that just won't leave my head. oh, i promise you a good time. you'll be so glad you believed me.

::::and would you believe it, these mp3s will actually work now:
Field Music - Give It Lose It Take It
-- this is the first track of the album. i hadn't heard anything from the album, and i was walking out of my building as this started, and i paid particular attention to the opening. i was so surprised when the music started up after the bells, and was instantly hooked. watch out at 40 seconds in... and just let the beatles influence floor you. a minute:thirty in and you'll see just why they're so fucking good.
Field Music - Working To Work
-- seventh track presents a catchy-as-hell breakdown, a slightly more simplified arrangement, and quite simply a great song. the Brits in them shine through here, and a little Paul McCartney...
BONUS:Field Music - She Can Do What She Wants
-- it was so impossibly hard not to give you this entire album, i'm telling you. instead, i closed off this line-up with their intended closer, which is just such a great song. oh, man. fantastic lead-in, irresistable harmonies, tambourine, strings (keyboard-produced or no) - oh, luscious. and it will be stuck in your head for the next five years.

i mean, this whole album is so incredible it almost makes me angry. it's this frustration that i know not every reader will pick up these tracks, that not everyone will believe me, that i'll fail in conveying my honest passion for the music i've found. but that's the gig here, i guess.

the hype will only grow and grow, so check there often for more and more tracks (so you can believe me, really).
also, tell them hi on their myspace, and listen to good songs.

Labels: reviews

  shan  3:48 PM  |  view comments (3)