In a quick 1-2-3 of releases, Field Music shipped out their self-titled debut in 2005, sophomore effort Write Your Own History in 2006, and now Tones of Town in 2007. Hailing from Sunderland, England, Field Music combine silly English-derived indie with a mellow brand of easy-going orchestral and chamber stylings. The result: a horribly mellow Futureheads, with a violin instead of a guitar. Intriguing? Very much so. From the very opening of “Give It Lose It Take It” Field Music becomes elusive to wrap with a description, as their flowing harmonic melodies almost hypnotize your ears from making snap judgments or comparisons. The namesake track “Tones of Town” shows off its album-naming worthiness with up-beat and sunny melodies, and “A House Is Not A Home” finds Field Music’s vocals – a fast-paced attack of British accents that sound strongly of The Futureheads – melding with classic guitar riffs and orchestral effects that could have been taken straight from The Beatles. The combination may raise eyebrows, but works wonderfully. The album runs to its end, but not before “A Gap Has Appeared” pumps the speakers full of sorrowful and reflective orchestral sounds, blending into a delicious soft-edged pop piece. Field Music blend influences very well in Tones of Town, and utilizes their mellow orchestral instrumentals beautifully. For a lazy sunny day – even in gray January – pop Tones of Town in.

So you say you like My Bloody Valentine, but all that feedback and gobbilty-gook tends to rub your head the wrong way? Headaches result from Ride and it pains you because “Vapour Trail” is just so darn good? Boy oh boy do I have the band for you then. Meet My Majestic Star (mmm, can you smell the alliteration?), the smooth, creamy version of My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and any other shoegaze band you can think up. Ethereal soothing sounds can be found aplenty here, but without the mind-numbing ax-splitting feedback found in Loveless, and the 11-minute “Attachments” can compete with “When You Sleep” and come out holding it’s own. The lovely melodies and sweeping crescendos found in their latest work Fining will have even the hardest shoegaze rocker swimming in a pool of shimmery landscape-filled emerald tunes. “The Letter F” and “Fining” are wonderfully ambient tracks that also achieve a bit of mainstream pop-ability, which lets the listener get gobbled up by My Majestic Star faster then most shoegazers. Fining is a relaxing and exciting release all at once. Short and punchy, My Majestic Star prove to be a wonderful remedy to overworked shoegaze ears—a remedy that (unlike that stuff your mom gave you when you were little) tastes better with every dosage.

(Published at MusicEmissions.com) 

Questions Answered by Daley Smith

You’ve been through extensive head-lining touring, the release of your debut album, and had your music break the Top 40. What has your reaction to all this success been?

Personally my reaction is to constantly strive to do better, whilst doing one show you’re thinking about the next and so on. It’s kinda like “I definitely won’t do that tomorrow, or tomorrow I’m gonna do that instead.” Same with recording and writing, you are in constant consideration of the next destination.

What brought the band together to start The Sunshine Underground, why start a band?

We were all in different bands before TSU, we were at college one day and just ended up in a room together with our instruments, we were lucky enough to do a college course that afforded us to have a lot of spare practicing time. We all just felt that nobody was making music that we wanted to hear. We basically thought that we could be good.

How did the band get launched from the local scene into the national eye?

I don’t feel that we have been launched anywhere, for us to get noticed it has taken a hard slog of loads of gigs and promo. Even with the Leeds scene we played loads of gig before anyone took notice, then a few more people would show up, then a few more I feel like we are still going through that nationally.

What was recording Raise the Alarm like?

Recording the album was the favorite period for me last year, we were locked away in a house in Brixton, it was a really relaxed atmosphere; we all really got on, us the producers and the studio staff. We would generally work from 11am until we were finished with what we had set out to do that day, which would be anywhere between midnight and 2am. We all ate together, played foosball together, had BBQ’s and worked together it was great.

In hindsight, is there anything in the album you wish you could change or tweak?

Not really, for me once an album is on the shelves it’s done, we are thinking about the next record. We have added bits to the songs whilst playing live but that’s more for the live show.

What do you hope to achieve in 2007?

I hope to write another album I’m really proud of, keep making the live show better and better, just to keep going really. It’s all about progression.

Thinking at all about the ominous second record? Any ideas on how it may turn out?

As we speak I am writing this from my bed in a cottage/studio in the middle of nowhere in Devon where we are holed up for a weeks writing retreat. I’m really optimistic about the next record. We have few new toys and new sounds to play with. We already had one solid song before we came out here, we’ve been listening to a lot of new music. I’m excited about it.

What has been a more enjoyable experience for you and the band: recording or touring?

For me it’s recording, with recording you can physically see the progress you are making in front of your eyes, it can be very rewarding. With touring it can be the most amazing thrill of playing to 1000 people then the next night to the disappointment of no one turning up because Razorlight are playing down the road in the only big venue in town. But you can’t beat the excitement of being on stage. So can I say both??

Could you see yourself with The Sunshine Underground in, say, ten years?

Sometimes it’s hard to see that far ahead at all and sometime I can’t imagine doing anything else. As long as it’s still a good experience for everyone involved then I’ll keep doing it.

How would you describe the music scenes in Shropshire and Telford, especially when compared to those in Leeds and even London?

The music scene in Shropshire is growing I am pleased to say, obviously it is small compared to London or Leeds, but those places are cities with large populations. But I think Shropshire and the midlands should be proud of pulling itself out the heavy metal trap it was stuck in few years back. I was out there over Christmas and had no CD’s or an iPod with me, so had to listen to the radio a lot, I had it tuned to radio Shropshire which in the evening had a local music scene radio show and all these acts had sent in their demo’s and music. You had everything from bands to glitchy/tech Thom Yorke style stuff it made me reconsider the music scene over there. The thing holding it back is the lack of venues.

If you’ve been listening to The Thermals’ earlier work, you have probably noticed the striking Nirvana-esque grunge influence on their music (i.e. “How We Know”). Following that train of thought: The Body, The Blood, The Machine is a striking mix of In Utero and Nevermind. Not wholly pop, The Thermals wrap obvious religious and political themes around their grunge instrumentals—thus hinting at the depth found within In Utero. Throughout the album, The Thermals consistently bring up religion in an arguably sarcastic, albeit honestly lost tone. In “Returning to the Fold,” for example, Hutch Harris sings of blistering doubt and discontent, but finishes with “But I still have faith / If I ever had faith / Wait for me / Wait for me.” Furthermore, in “Pillar of Salt,” Harris shouts “That’s why we’re escaping / So we won’t have to die, we won’t have to deny / Our dirty God, dirty bodies.” The need and desire for escape is an overbearing theme of the album. The majority of the songs mention escaping, and even the liner notes declare “ATTENTION ESCAPISTS!!!” Yet, past all this religious and political questioning and satire is the damnably catchy Thermals. “Here’s Your Future” and “Pillar of Salt” are the two strongest pop tracks off the record. Both clock in at just about 2 minutes, 30 seconds, and contain the delicious grunge instrumentals. Quick and dirty melodies wrap themselves around Harris’ unique voice in a way that gets you moving, despite and even in spite of the harsh religious satire held within the lyrics. This healthy mix of depth and pop melds that of In Utero and Nevermind, but in a way that’s more detached from grunge than any of their previous albums. The Thermals have carved a new road for themselves, and it will be very interesting to see where it takes them.

(Published at MusicEmissions.com)

With accordion and bouzouki alongside, The Decemberists signed onto Capitol Records to release their fourth album, The Crane Wife. In the eyes of many, The Decemberists – a band who enjoys dressing in American Civil War styled outfits – lost all their indie-rep by making the jump to a big-label. The Crane Wife shouts clearly from the roof-tops that it matters not what label backs you, it’s the music that matters.

The running story within The Crane Wife is loosely based on an old myth from Japan, which is cut and jumbled throughout the album (the ending opens the album, the beginning ends it), and basically intermixes a man, a crane, and a wife. The Crane Wife, Parts 1 & 2 rounds out the better part of eleven minutes, and is clearly divided into two distinct songs squished into one. Emotional, loving, hopeless, hopeful, and wonderfully clandestine throughout, The Crane Wife story is backed by The Decemberists’ call-card folk instrumentals. While The Crane Wife, Parts 1 & 2 is the lyrical and ballad masterpiece of the album (if not The Decemberists’ entire discography), this story-line is only a slice of the album.

Following their American Civil War-style dress are a number of songs that could fit perfectly into the time period, including When The War Came. A powerfully repetitive instrumental-line supports Colin Meloy’s haunting lyrics. Sweeping melodies and spine-chilling choruses push The Decemberists’ work beyond mediocrity into breath-taking emotional pieces. Shankill Butchers displays The Decemberists’ love of folklore of yore, singing as a lullaby of the gang of murders that will come and rip “Your ribbons / From your curls” if children do not listen to their parents.

The Decemberists prove that signing to a major label does not mean that they will give up their wonderfully odd indie roots. The Crane Wife is a masterpiece of lyrical and song-writing. Always original, songs like O Valencia!, Summersong, and Sons & Daughters are wonderfully uplifting yet emotionally down-trodden folk-melodies that should be played again and again. The Crane Wife is yet another masterpiece from The Decemberists, if not their best work.