Field Music
Field Music Play...
Release Date: Oct 1, 2012
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Memphis Industries
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Album Review: Field Music Play... by Field Music
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
Following on from four warmly received albums, a b-sides compilation, and a solo album from each of its members in over just seven years, Sunderland’s 2012 breakthrough act Field Music (admittedly using a Mercury Music Prize nomination as a barometer of when a band 'breaks through' is a science on a par with [SATIRE] Mitt Romney’s economic calculations [/SATIRE]) can be forgiven for indulging themselves somewhat). Whilst many of us though would take this as an opportunity to let our hair down with some piss-weak lager we paid £4.99 a bottle for in some Hoxton Club PBR, David and Peter Brewis have instead opted for the time-worn rock band hallmark of self-indulgence, the covers album. Field Music Play...
Based on rating 3.5/5
Sunderland duo Field Music are, very slowly and without anyone really noticing, becoming national treasures. The Brewis brothers, you see, are the actual nicest men in rock (whevs, Grohl), and have built a following by writing consistently clever and excellent pop songs across their five albums. On ‘Field Music Play…’ they bring their brand of clever and excellent to other people’s pop songs.
Based on rating 6.8/10
There's always been a Rosetta Stone quality to the pop song cover. Hearing a group's version of an established tune can reveal things about each via comparison, like setting a decoder ring to the proper coordinates between two acts. When I heard that Field Music were applying their prim British Invasion melodies and jazz-derived rhythms to a set of interpretations, I dialed in my hopes to the usual suspects: the Kinks, Sparks, something from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, perhaps, maybe an early Talking Heads cut, a take on Kraftwerk's "The Model", or XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel".
Opinion: Very Good
Covers compilations are often tawdry affairs; full of gaudy paeans, ham-fisted odes to legends bygone and truly innovative artists of yesteryear. I can happily declare, however, that Field Music - riding high on the crest of that Mercury tipped wave - navigate the potentially troublesome waters with ease and aplomb. ‘Field Music Play…’ sees the Brewis brothers following up swiftly on previous album ‘Plumb’ with a smattering of left-of-centre covers from the likes of such luminaries as John Cale, Pet Shop Boys and The Beatles (each a clear and evident influence on FM).