Tones of Town
Field Music
Score:87
Reviewer: Ed Butler
Label: Memphis Industries (USA & UK)
Reviewed: Jan 15th '08, Released:2008
No-one 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 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. 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 in this case it is appropriate, with the record recalling the Englishness of Sgt Peppers or Abbey Road.
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.
