Field Music Tones of Town by: Ed Butler Tue:05-Feb-08 Label: Memphis Industries Year: 2007 WB rating 88 out of 100

I don't think anyone really expected much from Field Music, least of all the members of Field Music. It all seemed like an innocent collaboration between members of Maxïmo Park and The Futureheads, with no aspirations of world conquest or end-of-year best-of lists. But from the first beat of their self-titled debut in 2005 to the last note of the heart-stoppingly gorgeous 'You're so Pretty', that expectation was dashed as they made one of the highlights of the year.

So, in the face of renewed expectations and the notion of Field Music being a band in its own right, rather than the ubiquitous side project, how does Tones of Town stack up? Pretty darn well, actually. ‘Darn’ being a relatively fitting expletive considering that any form of foul language being used in association with Tones of Town would seem shockingly out of place. Field Music have made that most wonderful of anachronisms, a good Beatles-esque pop album.

That particular adjective gets tossed around a little bit too much, but it may well be appropriate, with the record recalling those oh-so English moments from Sgt Peppers or Abbey Road, when a Liverpudlian accent seemed to encapsulate all that was beautiful and nostalgic about 1950’s England. Even on the cover art, the band members are pictured holding an old microphone recording machine dating from at least then, or even earlier.

That's not to say that Tones of Town is not very much a product of the here and now; even as instrumentation is determinedly old-fashioned, songs are kept tight and taut in a way Messrs Lennon, McCartney and Harrison occasionally failed to see the beauty of. Not a note is wasted, no harmony overused (witness beautiful little opening ditty - ditty seems like a more appropriate word than song here, and that's a compliment - 'Give It Lose It Take It') as strings wash in and out without overstaying their welcome. Percussion jumps around with xylophone cameos and little keyboard flourishes, all the while making the listener feel like a cup of tea and his slippers while waiting for the local marching band to appear around the corner.

All that being said, Beatles references and comments about anachronisms sell Tones of Town short. This is two decades of pop music being swallowed whole, chewed up and spat back out in a form that is palatable to the most discerning ear. Witness the Kinksian ‘Sit Tight’, which morphs into the gentle denouement, which is far more reminiscent of a bastard lovechild of three members of The Band and a vagrant beatnik. ‘A House is Not a Home’ is, concurrently, the rightful heir of much of The White Album, while tracks across the entire record are awash with vocal harmonies which are clearly inspired by late ‘60s Beach Boys, while perhaps lacking Brian Wilson’s Smithsonian-worthy ear for tune.

The longest song on Tones of Town is the opener, at 3.54. After that, there is nothing over three-and-a-half minutes. According to Field Music, brevity is, indeed, the soul of wit. Things are kept tight as a drum, as every pop band worth their salt did prior to The Beatles and Dylan turning everything upside down in 1966-67. There are no solos, no histrionics, no extended jam sessions, this is pop music at its purest and prettiest. Field Music have lovingly recreated a bygone era of music with care and attention, and without once appearing trite or condescending, something that almost nobody has managed to do in over 40 years.

It may be overkill, but a final Beatles comparison seems appropriate. On their absolute classic, ‘A Day in the Life’, Paul McCartney’s interlude captured, more exquisitely than any songwriter before him, the feel of the nine-to-five grind. On Tones of Town, Field Music put out ‘Working to Work’, and while they don’t manage to scale the lofty heights of their antecedents, this is one of the most loving, faithful, yet unique and individual recreations of that wonderful time to have been heard in decades.