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Spin

Few bands this side of Wilco float along so easily on little more than diagonally rendered elegiac noises and severe anxiety disorder. [Mar 2006, p.95]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Field Music is a joyful piece of pop art, and a case study in how fragments can make mosaics.

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Entertainment Weekly

It's an excellent nod to XTC's mod-pop, played with a frenetic edge for the ADD generation. [7 Apr 2006, p.63]

cokemachineglow

The record is a gem. Twelve tracks with a sense of cohesiveness that side-steps homogeneity in favor of straight-up old-fashioned album workmanship.

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Splendid

Instead of embracing the angularity of the self-conscious Britpop and New Wave scenes of yore, Field Music embrace the sugary pop-rock that defined the first British Invasion.

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Drowned In Sound

What is most interesting about this record, apart from it’s self-assured collection of off-beat laments is the amount of exciting doorways it flings open for the future.

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Mojo

[An] intriguing debut. [Sep 2005, p.103]

New Musical Express (NME)

A debut offering of preposterously ace swoon-pop. [6 Aug 2005, p.56]

All Music Guide

Smart, inventive, and exciting guitar pop.

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Paste Magazine

Effortlessly blends candy-pop conventions with the concise edge of punk. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.128]

Pitchfork

More ephemeral than Clor, more cerebral than the Rakes, Field Music has, like the Magic Numbers, fashioned a distinctive voice and near-perfect arrangements, but the songs hint at greatness nearly as often as they achieve it.

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Stylus Magazine

These are songs that veer to and fro, frequently sounding as if they’re nearly about to run off the rails.

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Under The Radar

A top-to-bottom solid collection of art pop. [#13, p.85]

Playlouder

Even Paul McCartney himself hasn't made an album this McCartneyish for some twenty-odd years now.

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Q Magazine

Hard work but worth the effort. [Oct 2005, p.117]

Urb

Songs are succinct yet maintain an eye for layering oblique, eccentric detail of almost prog proportions. [Jun 2006, p.111]

Prefix Magazine

The band's shortcomings only become apparent when looking at the album as a whole; its repetition of the same sunshine formula loses it flare right around the third track, when the record's pace begins to slow.

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PopMatters

Field Music is a classic case of an album that sounds so good that it takes a while before you realize that there really isn't much going on beneath the surface.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Lawrence P gave it an8:
At first it seems kind of plain...but after half a dozen spins, it hits you in the most sublime way and I love every note of it!

Ben J gave it an8:
I can't think of another album I've bought which has taken so many spins before I've finally "got" it. Initially disappointing at first it's brilliance grows after numerous spins. Well worth investigating.

Wombo A gave it a9:
Sounds like Elbow on candy and ecstasy. And XTC.

lee b gave it an8:
cracking debut by my locals. Old fashioned maybe but shows some exciting promise for the future. There are two or three fillers in the middle of the album when the pace drops but there are some cracking sweet sing along pop tunes in here!

Derek C gave it a10:
I haven't heard a better orch-pop record since Eric Matthews debut in 1995. High praise, well deserved

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Field Music

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