popwreckoning

It’s hard to believe that Tindersticks are back with a new recording less than two years after The Hungry Saw, an album that was a comeback of sorts for a band who hadn’t released anything in five years. It was reasonable to assume they’d take that long again, but it seems like Saw really brought the band together and returned them to creativity. Falling Down a Mountain is the current result, and it’s not bad.

The band’s enthusiasm and excitement at working are obvious throughout, so much so that, for the most part, it doesn’t even have that gloomy Tindersticks feel to it. Instead it feels quite joyful in parts, joyful and sunny, and Stuart Staples‘ singing even sounds happy (though not all the time, of course; they’d be a different band otherwise). It’s a change, an unexpected one, but it’s quite nice to listen to a band who so seem to enjoy what they’re doing and aren’t just going through the process for the sake of a contract or something — here’s a band who sound like they’re doing what they do simply because they want to, and they do it very well.

Having said that, there is a kind of rushed feel to the album that, for me, makes it slightly less satisfying than Saw. There are ten tracks in all, showcasing a variety of sounds and moods, from the brooding (“Falling Down a Mountain”) to the forgettable (“Peanuts”), and it’s all over rather abruptly. The songs and tracks don’t seem to mesh together as well as those on Saw did either, the overall effect leaving me wanting. A sharper critic may note that at times it feels like the band are following a kind of Tindersticks formula — there are instrumentals, spaghetti-western latin sounds, horns galore, and motown soul trappings. But I’m not that sharp, and while the album may not seem as whole as Saw did, there are enough stand-out moments to make it all worthwhile.

I readily admit it: I started to become a wee bit giddy upon seeing We Were Promised Jetpacks‘s curly-haired, hoodie-wearing guitarist Michael Palmer on the side, itching to get onstage and fiddle with his guitar already. All the memories of the band’s first appearance in the nation’s capital, an amazing but brief set at the Black Cat last October (on the Fat Cat Records Tour), came rushing back. Then, the audience was mixed in their loyalty, either to them or their labelmates Brakes (BrakesBrakesBrakes in America) or the Twilight Sad. This night however, there was no question that all 200 exuberant ticket holders at the sold-out show Saturday night at D.C.’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel were present to see them. But before getting to this point, let me backtrack to the evening’s two supporting bands.

Typefighter is an unsigned, local to Washington five-piece, describing their musical genre on their MySpace as being of folk, melodramatic popular song, and indie. I hadn’t gotten the chance to listen to their songs there prior to the concert, so I really didn’t know what to expect. But one look at the instruments onstage (banjo, ukulele, melodica, and keyboards, along with the usual guitars and drums) made me think, “homegrown Fanfarlo?”

I felt further confirmation of this as two songs in, the “da dum-dum” rhythm of one of Typefighter’s songs reminded me of Fanfarlo‘s “Luna.” While Simon Balthazar of the London-based folk pop band has said the title of their debut album Reservoir is related to a previous fixation about bodies of water, it appears this Washington band likes writing about boats and oceans. This is evidenced by songs like the metaphorical “Ocean Floor,” with despondent lyrics like “I’m waiting for this ocean floor to dry” and talk about sinking boats with holes. (Kind of weird that the Jetpacks have a song on a similar theme to this too, huh?) But trust me, the music itself is a lot more upbeat, with handclaps aplenty. Probably the most impressive was their set closer, “I Wrote This Song for You,” all band members singing along and snapping their fingers as lead singer/guitarist Ryan McLaughlin played ukulele.

Singer Ryan McLaughlin and multi-instrumentalist Mary Voutsas exchanged friendly, jokey banter with each other and with the audience between songs, lending a warmth pretty much absent from the other two bands’s sets. I noticed that among the many tattoos McLaughlin has on his body, he has a lighthouse on his left forearm. With lighthouses being beacons of light amidst dark and stormy seas, I feel like Typefighter just might have what it takes to shine, break out of here, and do well.

Cincinnati’s Bad Veins took a bit longer to get settled in to play, as singer/multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Davis needed just the right setup to anchor a telephone receiver in a mike stand. You read that right – a telephone receiver. Quirky is a good way to describe the rose motifs on the band’s drum kit and their telephone case and their third “band member” on display, an antique reel-to-reel tape player they’ve named Irene. With the mike stand problem resolved and Irene queued up, the duo came on to “Hail to the Chief,” leaving me wondering if only we as D.C. residents received this kind of welcome from them. Interestingly, Irene was used to add piano, horns, and strings that the two men onstage would not have been able to achieve otherwise.

Drummer Sebastian Schultz meanwhile was too busy pounding away on his drum kit (a kit I might add that was outfitted with four high-hats and cymbals in total). Schultz certainly earned his keep Saturday night, delivering powerful beats to go with Davis’s often theatrical vocal approach. At times, his voice would run emotional, sounding like James Allan of Glasvegas, but then all of a sudden turn shouty, like over the top Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects.

And I haven’t forgotten the telephone. All bands have a gimmick, and Bad Veins have a telephone that Davis sings into for some songs like “The Lie” and “Afraid.” All things considered, the telephone effect worked better than I thought, not only because of its uniqueness in a rock show, but because Davis would sing into the receiver and it sounded just like you would imagine hearing someone singing to you through the line. However, my favorite song of theirs, completely devoid of the telephone, was “Falling Tide,” a reminder of just how good rock ‘n’ roll can be when you’ve got forceful lyrics, killer guitar, and wicked backbeats.

11:30 rolled around and as I mentioned early on in this review, seeing guitarist Michael Palmer smiling and raring to go made me smile. Scotland is doing very well musically in my book, producing both Camera Obscura and We Were Promised Jetpacks, definitely two of my faves as of late. Good bands have excellent musicians or a charismatic singer. Great bands like the Jetpacks have both. The band’s opening number Saturday night, “Keeping Warm,” came in like a hurricane, the guitars of Palmer, lead singer Adam Thompson, and bassist Sean Smith wailing, and Darren Lackie beating his drums so furiously that one of his drumsticks broke and the broken piece flew into the air, landing near the front of the stage. (You know what they say about physics and momentum.) Even before Thompson uttered a word, the combined sound was so loud, it was as if the club was a jetliner and we were about to take flight.

The effect successfully built up the crowd’s excitement for seeing these four lads from Edinburgh, who played most of the songs off their well-received debut album These Four Walls. Before launching into hit “Roll Up Your Sleeves,” a smiling Thompson said to us, “thanks to everyone who came to the Black Cat show [last October]. That was a great show for us!” The crowd cheered appreciatively, one woman shouting back, “tell us a Scottish joke!” (This was most likely in reference to some jokes the Black Cat crowd had with Thompson the last time they were in town.) He considered this for a half-second before replying with a wide grin, “a Scottish joke? Fuck off!” Laughter.

I expected many in the audience to know and sing along to all of the words to songs like “Quiet Little Voices” and “Ships with Holes Will Sink,” but I was surprised when some provided loud impromptu backing with their voices on the instrumental portions of the set closer “Short Bursts.” Throughout the set, Thompson sang with the same never-wavering conviction displayed on their album that has no doubt made the band a hit with many music fans. The 10-song set included two new songs that unfortunately at this time have unknown titles, as I could not find the band nor their merch people afterwards to buy their new EP. But no matter. I expect the Jetpacks to make a triumphant return to D.C after becoming more of a sensation in the UK and Europe than they already are and the release of a successful second album. We Were Promised Jetpacks, the sky’s the limit!

We Were Promised Jetpacks Set List:
Keeping Warm
Quiet Little Voices
Moving Clocks Run Slow
New song (presumably not on the new EP)
New song from new EP
It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning
Roll Up Your Sleeves
This is My House, This is My Home
Ships with Holes Will Sink
Short Bursts

Tour Dates:
Feb 15 – Knitting Factory / Brooklyn*
Feb 17 – Casbah at Tremont Music Hall / Charlotte*
Feb 18 – Masquerade / Atlanta*
Feb 19 – The End / Nashville*
Feb 21 – Hailey’s / Denton, TX*
Feb 23 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix#
Feb 26 – Troubadour / Los Angeles#
Feb 27 – Slim’s / San Francisco#
Mar 01 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver#
Mar 02 – Neumo’s / Seattle#
Mar 03 – Doug Fir / Portland#
Mar 05 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City#
Mar 06 – Hi Dive / Denver#
Mar 07 – Jackpot / Lawrence, KS#
Mar 08 – Waiting Room / Omaha#
Mar 09 – Varsity Theatre / Minneapolis#
Mar 11 - Lincoln Hall / Chicago#
Mar 12 – Grog Shop / Cleveland#
Mar 13 – Summit / Columbus#
Mar 14 – Radio Radio / Indianapolis#
Mar 15 – This Old Rock House / St. Louis#
* with Bad Veins
# with Bear Hands

We Were Promised Jetpacks: myspace | We Were Promised Jetpacks Plan Winter 2010 Tour of North America | @ Black Cat | @ monolith
Bad Veins: website | myspace
Typefighter: myspace

Valentine’s Day is today kids, and while other music blogs seem to be in a holiday-inspired quasi-posting frenzy offering countless “Best Of” lists that make you question your taste in music, I offer you dear readers, just one, single song to nurse your dark heart back to life.

Ween is a band I discovered in junior high school. I won’t mention how long ago that was, but I will say that at the time I was rocking quite a bit of M.C. Hammer and Bel Biv Devoe on my Casio Walkman. You can do the math. I clearly remember my brother and his best friend anxiously awaiting the 1992 Christmastime release of Ween’s Pure Guava. Big box retailers at the time didn’t carry music like that—hard, foul and birthed via four-track—with no internet to speak of, we had to get our music on from the little lone record store on Main Street, Downtown Sounds, I can still smell the dusty wood paneling and discontent festering behind the counter. The album had to be special ordered, that’s just how remote music like Ween was at the time. My brother and his buddy Kevin each bought a copy and then exchanged them with each other for Christmas. They thought that was pretty slick. When the shipment finally arrived at the store, weeks after Christmas, the boys couldn’t get their grubby paws on the genius quick enough. I remember they came home and locked themselves in my brother’s tiny bedroom, just big enough for a twin bed and a bong made out of an Abdow’s Big Boy plastic penny bank and listened to the album on repeat. A few days later Kevin’s mom called wondering where the hell he was. To be honest, neither one of them were the same after they discovered Ween and Downtown Sounds had just as much to do with that as the album itself. I soon ditched the bolo tie and patent leather oxfords in exchange for a flannel and something a bit more rugged on my feet and let the alternative side of life in.

From the same band that has blessed us with righteous tracks like, “Put Your Boobs On,” “Wavin’ My Dick In The Wind,” “Baby Bitch” and “Pinkeye (On My Leg),” I want to share with you one of my most favorite love song of all, a twangy, country-infused, simple little lick called, “Stay Forever” by Gene and Dean Ween. On Valentine’s Day, I dedicate this song to remembering how I first fell in love with the discovery of music. Eighteen years later and I’m still smitten.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of my kindred dark horses out there.

.“Stay Forever”

Do you live near Salt Lake City and would like to see a live performance by two great groups? London pop folkies Fanfarlo and American band April Smith and the Great Picture Show are stopping by the Urban Lounge on February 27, and we have a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky winner. Check out Fanfarlo‘s breathtaking acoustic version of “Luna” (filmed in a friend’s back garden last summer) and April Smith and the Great Picture Show’s “Colors” below.

All you have to do is correctly name Fanfarlo‘s debut album released in 2009 in the comments below and include a valid email address. How simple is that? We’ll pick a winner from the correct entries received by noon CDT on Sunday, February 21. Good luck!

April Smith and the Great Picture Show – Colors

Tour Dates:
Feb 22 – Great American Music Hall / San Francisco
Feb 23 – Doug Fir / Portland
Feb 24 – Crocodile Café / Seattle
Feb 25 – Knitting Factory / Spokane
Feb 27 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City
Feb 28 – Larimer Lounge / Denver

Photo: Mary Chang

Fanfarlo: website | myspace | @ Iota, Arlington, VA | Fanfarlo Announce First Headlining Tour of North America
April Smith and the Great Picture Show: website | myspace | Songs for a Sinking Ship review

Austin, Texas is home to some of the best bands, bars and music in the world. It also serves as the stomping ground for unsigned sleepers Driver F.  The group previously described on Popwreckoning as having a “full-tilt live show” and being  “armed with catchy hooks made with the right mashings of moog and horn” has been in and out of the studio, prepping for the followup to the 2008 release Chasing the White Whale.

As a special treat for their fans, for one week only they’ve uploaded “You’re a Legend, Sir” to their myspace for unlimited stream. If the infectious cut is any indication of what is in the future of Driver F, we’re in for a bit of a treat.

Stream the song here. Furthermore, if you like what you hear please do the guys a favor and twitter, facebook and spread the word regarding this release. Without the power of a label pushing their release word of mouth is the main form of exposure for this highly deserving band.

Sure Valentine’s Day is coming up, but there is a better reason to share the love this weekend. Friday-Saturday is TWLOHA Day(s).

TWLOHA stands for To Write Love On Her Arms. It is an organization founded to show people that they’re not alone and they are loved and suicide is not worth it. It wants people to know, “You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story.” Show support by writing “love” on you arm and telling the people in your life how much you care for them. Learn more about TWLOHA here.

In support of TWLOHA, Angels and Airwaves are offering their latest album, the aptly-named Love, for free download. You can get the album here and then maybe, you should share the Love.

Currently my favorite Northern Irish band, electropop / indie rock trio Two Door Cinema Club have announced they will be playing in North America for the first time this spring. Following European dates in late March supporting French indie rockers Phoenix, the trio will be joining Phoenix on nine dates of the French band’s North American tour starting in late April. Following this support slot, Two Door Cinema Club will embark on their first headlining tour of North America, starting on May 2 at West Hollywood’s Troubadour through to May 17 at Toronto’s Wrongbar.

Tourist History, the band’s debut album, is set to be released on March 1 in the UK by French label Kitsuné Maison (the same folks that signed English electropop acts Delphic and La Roux). “Undercover Martyn,” the band’s third single to be released ahead of Tourist History, will be released in the UK on February 22. But I fell in love with them upon hearing “I Can Talk,” a frenetically-paced pop tour de force. You can watch the equally frenetic promo video below.

Tour Dates
Apr 20 – Schubas / Chicago
Apr 21 – Uptown / Kansas City, MO*
Apr 22 – Louisville Palace / Louisville, KY*
Apr 23 – Vanderbilt / Nashville*
Apr 24 – Tabernacle / Atlanta*
Apr 26 – Constitution Hall / Washington, DC*
Apr 27 – Norva / Norfolk, VA*
Apr 29 – Stubb’s / Austin*
Apr 30 – Verizon Wireless Theatre / Houston*
May 01 – Edgefest / Dallas*
May 05 – Troubadour / West Hollywood
May 06 – Popscene / San Francisco (tickets only available night of show)
May 07 – Doug Fir / Portland
May 08 – Nectar Lounge / Seattle
May 12 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
May 13 – Johnny Brenda’s / Philadelphia
May 15 – Great Scott / Boston
May 16 – Salla Rossa / Montreal
May 17 – Wrongbar / Toronto
* supporting Phoenix

Two Door Cinema Club: website | myspace
Phoenix: website | myspace

Have you ever met a Rock Star? I mean someone who just walks into a room and has all eyes on them. Believe it or not, every industry has them, not just in the music world. Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity is her industry’s Rock Star, and Thomas Starks of PopWreckoning got on the phone with her to find out why and how she got to the top of her game.

Thomas Starks, PopWreckoning: Thank you so much for taking my call Miss Hyatt.
Ariel Hyatt, Ariel Publicity: The pleasure is all mine, thanks for liking what we do!
TS: You know what, I’ll tell you what, I actually put your plan into action, and I along with my fans found some success! But we’ll talk about that in a minute, we are chatting with Ariel Hyatt of “Ariel Publicity” and we are very pleased to speak with you, thank you so much.
AH: Pleasure is mine.

TS: So you got into this some 10 to 13 years ago?
AH: I got into my own PR firm approximately, gosh it’s almost 15 years ago.
TS: You’ve obviously done pretty well for yourself, can you tell us the story of how that actually came about?
AH: Sure, we founded as a traditional P.R. firm and we’ve always represented and worked primarily with artists who were independent, meaning non major label affiliates. For many many years, I clicked along very comfortably with a successful traditional P.R. firm., meaning we promoted to newspapers and magazines and television and radio,we also did a lot of tour P.R. and it was going along quite swimmingly until September 11th, 2001. At that moment, when that tragedy happened, I noticed a very very sharp downturn in the success rates of the campaigns that we were managing, and what I noticed was, all of the local beat music writers at all of the smaller newspapers around the country were getting fired, or, they were beginning to cover different types of events that were not locally focused on music. I realized that we had a big problem and that problem was that my clients were literally paying me thousands of dollars of a month to get them wide coverage and I couldn’t provide it. So that’s when we started looking for other solutions. Luckily, we had been heavily involved with the internet and it just made perfect sense to me to go where there were ENTHUSIASTIC fans. I mean at the time there weren’t even blogs, it was like, “news servers” and “zines.” That was the big thing, “webzines.” And it was before internet radio really took off, so you know, we started promoting to passionate people in those domains, and obviously that’s all morphed into what we NOW know as blogs, podcasts, internet radio stations, and social media sites.

TS: I did notice that just in the last week or week and a half you have changed your web site.
AH: We have indeed.
TS: Your site has always been user friendly and now as I see is much more user friendly. I’m also aware that with the social media aspect of all this, I do know that you were always prescribing that to your clients. What exactly keyed you into that?
AH: As far as how we represent artists?
TS: Let’s say you have a company come to you and say, “We are such and such website…we would like to help promote to musicians.” What is your process of sifting through the thousands of web sites that want to assist musicians?
AH: You know, our whole philosophy is, even if a web site seems like it’s small, maybe they don’t have a ton of readers, maybe it’s kind of homemade or homespun, but we think it ALL counts because with Google, it ALL counts. So we’re not only going for the top top top players, you know, like the large sites where there’s millions of readers. We are also going for anyone that wants to show love. We have a vetting process obviously, like we don’t want the web sites to contain anything offensive or that we deem inappropriate, but basically, if there is someone with passion on the other end that wants to cover our artists, we pretty much want to work with them. So our vetting process is liberal and we really believe ourselves to be the solution if you’re looking for a long tail solution as opposed to “Just promote to the top 10”…we don’t believe in that.

TS: So when an artist comes to you and says “I would like to figure out how to succeed in the music industry…” What is the first thing you say to them?
AH: You know one of the first things we try to do is find out how open to social media they are. Obviously, I’m a social media coach and this is my area of expertise, so I come with a very biased opinion of how I think survival will happen for them. So if I get someone that is completely resistant and is saying, “I hate this; I hate all this communication; I hate social media; I don’t like it.” It’s going to be very very hard for me to work effectively with that person. I need to know that the person is educable. Because if they are really negative about social media and really feel that it is so confronting and so upsetting, I’m not going to be able to be effective. So I think the one key we are looking for with all the clients we represent is how willing to do this are they? That’s really the number one deciding factor. Then it’s up to us to help them identify an audience and connect with them in a way that makes them feel comfortable. So obviously there are so many different ways to focus in on social media. You might be into Twitter, maybe you like Facebook, maybe Last FM is how you like to share with different artists. Maybe you just want to blog; maybe you like to take photos. You know we don’t want to limit anyone’s preference online. There are so many ways of expressing yourself online, so if  some one says, “Look, I really think Twitter is dumb. I have so much to say. I can’t say it all in 140 characters.” I’m not going to force them to tweet. If they say, “Look I’m really long-winded and I like writing long essays about my traveling or my tour schedule,” well than I’m going to say maybe blogging fits better. So then it’s how do we identify what the artists resonate with.

TS: So without playing favorites, can you tell us a story…a success story without having to say the name of a particular client that actually succeeded in your program?
AH: Now one of our crowning achievements, and this no secret because I’ve blogged about her, is Kelly Richey. She’s an artist that called me, literally lying on her kitchen floor two and a half years ago. She’s a blues guitarist who had toured literally the world, very successful in her own right. She had played HUGE festivals, you know, Europe and across the country. She had put out 13 albums and she realized that she had an enormous mistake. Now, the mistake was she tried to go for it in the major leagues. She hired the major publicist, she hired the major radio plugger, she got the glossy photos, she really tried to be the next Bonnie Raitt and she tried to do it without a major label budget. It’s pretty much impossible to do and she had spent tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, chasing this dream. She had a stunning realization which was that she didn’t even listen to these radio stations that she was so desperately trying to get on to. Then she realized: “Wait a minute…if I am my ideal client, and I don’t even listen to these radio stations, what on God’s green earth am I doing trying to fit myself into this thing that I don’t even believe in?” And she figured there would be a better way, so by the time I got her on the phone, I got someone who had really taken a stab at achieving mainstream success the old fashion way and it wasn’t working. I said to her, “I would love to help you transform your career,” and she started a BRUTAL re-education. She did not know ANYTHING about Twitter or blogging or podcasting and months into this, she called me up and she said “I feel like I’m a Martian that got dropped down from the sky into a shopping mall and I didn’t even know what money was. Not only did you give me a fistful of money, you dropped me into a mall. I didn’t know what shopping was, I didn’t know what stores were, I had to learn EVERYTHING.” So it was really really interesting to listen to her equate that, but what I’m really proud to say is, she did it. She took on Twitter, she took on blogging, she took on photo sharing, she took on reinventing her sites, and she took on reconnecting one by one with her fans. It’s three years later, she emailed me last week and she said, “I’ve made a radical decision because of the thousands of people you helped me connect to online, I’m not going to be touring anymore, I’m going to spend time in my studio, I’m going to release things online and I’m going to use the base that you’ve helped me build up to make my future money.”

TS: And that is something, if we can dig into will truly be a success story with all of us. Miss Hyatt, I sincerely appreciate your time.
AH: The pleasure is mine and I can’t wait hear what you’ve been doing with your own career!
TS: HAHA. Yeah, I’m gonna get off the record here in a minute, but I just wanted to thank you OFFICIALLY. Where can we find you, our readers and musicians find you, to gain more success and knowledge on how to succeed in the music business?
AH: You can find me at www.arielpublicity.com.
TS: Again, thank you so much, Miss Hyatt.

*We spoke for another 20 minutes because that’s just what Miss Hyatt is about: connecting and being real about it.

Sheffield, England indie rockers Arctic Monkeys have announced a 11-date tour of America for this April. This tour will hit cities on the East Coast and Midwest. San Francisco band Sleepy Sun will be the opening act on all dates.

“My Propeller,” the band’s third single from their current album Humbug, will be released on March 22 in the UK.

Tour Dates:
Apr 01 – Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theatre / Miami
Apr 02 – Ritz / Tampa
Apr 03 – Hard Rock Live / Orlando
Apr 05 – 40 Watt Club / Athens, GA
Apr 06 – Disco Rodeo / Raleigh
Apr 07 – Rams Head Live / Baltimore
Apr 09 – Madison Theatre / Covington, KY
Apr 11 – Pageant / St. Louis, MO
Apr 12 – Liberty Hall / Lawrence, KS
Apr 13 – Cain’s Ballroom / Tulsa
Apr 15 – Marquee / Tempe, AZ

Arctic Monkeys: website | myspace | Photo Essay: Chicago Roundup (featuring Pixies, The Flaming Lips, Arctic Monkeys, etc.) | Humbug review | Arctic Monkeys to Stream Special Gig Including New Album Tracks | Arctic Monkeys Drop New Single, Announce North American Tour | Arctic Monkeys DVD/CD Contest

At just over an hour and ten minutes long, the only way I’m going to get through this review is by keeping it as summarized as possible. Short story: Field Music‘s Field Music (Measure) double album sounds like Of Montreal mashed with Herman’s Hermits, minus the druggy trip, and dragged through the BBC in 1966. Twenty songs long, Field Music (Measure) isn’t necessarily in flux, but it does carry enough variance to keep you interested all the way to the purely-for-delicate-noise instrumental exit, “It’s About Time”—what a fitting title.

And for such a double album released from a band composed solely of two brothers (David and Peter Brewis hold it together; Andrew Moore didn’t return for this reprise, and just recently have they committed to full-time replacements) and after each brother’s side project took them away from Field Music focus, it’s a completion of artistry done with smarts. They’re known for a pop-like sort of mellow, with former albums sounding a bit more jangly (Tones of Town more so than the sweeping self-titled debut).

“Them That Do Nothing” is the first single I ended up paying attention to, since “Measure” was released as a teaser back in October (but I was off concentrating on neon chucks or something). It’s shocking that I did miss the preview, but I’m glad I did, because I would have been way more stoked than I am now. The album is good—it’s still intelligent and well-paced in pop, signature vocals, and the free form of past folky love reminiscent of Lindsay Buckingham—but “Measure” has a brilliant string opening that leads to a catchy plucking that evokes banjo breakdown. “Let’s Write a Book” is romantic in staccato lyrics, diggy bass hooks, off-the-cuff xylophone, and some haunting synth. I reformat what I said in the beginning—this can be a druggy trip of a listen, but not in a modern hit, think back to the vinyl and eight track days (or remember your parents talking about it), and that’s more what you’ll get. Read: Led Zeppelin.

If you at all are a fan of mid-60s era Beatles, or trancy-but-groovy synth pop, HAL or Royal Wood, Bishop Allen, or just really dug that “You Don’t Send Me” Belle and Sebastien song, this will put a smile on your face the whole play through. A notable grit does pop up, boosting the original sound of Field Music, but they remain hook-repetitive. Apparently when you’ve got a good base, you just keep going until someone breaks out with an improv lead. A tight album wrapping “Share The Words” will definitely be the next single, and if it isn’t, you should at least groove to it once a day. In fact, any song that uses the lyrics “I’m hot for myself” paired with loose guitars and a backing off-tempo set should always make it onto playlists everywhere. “Effortlessly” keeps the repetitive theme, but carries it beyond what’s more than welcome—watch out for those. There are only a few tracks that goes off course, but when they do, it’s a rush to hit the >>| button.