Tones Of Town - Field Music
Metascore
80 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 28
  2. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. It's unpredictable, ridiculously clever, catchy as hell and as perfect a pop album as you're ever likely to hear.
  2. Tones of Town carries the precision, sophistication, and sense of fun that made predecessor brainy pop bands like XTC so damned good. [#16, p.91]
  3. It's not overestimating matters to call 'Tones of Town' a timeless masterpiece.
  4. 90
    The result is 31 minutes of constantly surprising music, more absorbing and less conventional than anything on their self-titled 2005 debut. [Feb 2007, p.102]
  5. 90
    They're now a glorious band. [Feb 2007, p.76]
  6. The more I listen to Tones of Town, the more I can't get it out of my head.
  7. If the opaque lyrics seem like last-minute slaves to the meter, the brothers' amicable yelpings add a human touch. [23 Feb 2007, p.98]
  8. While Tones is tighter, smaller, and more to-the-point than its predecessor, I'm not fully convinced that it's as good as Field Music.
  9. They're a band who are defiantly British and who haven't sold their soul to current trends--and they're all the better for it. [20 Jan 2007, p.29]
  10. You absolutely, positively cannot go wrong buying this one.
  11. Tones of Town cements Field Music's place as one of the best pop bands of any kind operating in 2007.
  12. A great leap forward. [Jan 2007, p.148]
  13. The mood is joyfully confident, the sunshine-pop and dreamy harmonies as seamless as the carefully constructed ideas that lay behind them.
  14. The band doesn't vary its approach much for record number two. [Mar 2007, p.63]
  15. They're bright, breezy, accomplished and catchy, indie-pop at its best.
  16. There are off-centre, post-hardcore workouts and plenty of edgy but polished, pop fusion pieces, which suggest The Futureheads transplanted to 70s West Coast America.
  17. Tones of Town finds Field Music... hurling themselves into an abyss of pastoral abstraction with a wholeheartedness that is utterly thrilling.
  18. Beautiful, but never callow, here is an album to fall slowly in love with.
  19. Loaded with the sort of multi-tiered melodies you find in the early work of XTC.
  20. Tones Of Town sounds genuinely confident, like the band learned to focus more after its 2005 debut.
  21. Tones of Town may lack the swooning immediacy of its predecessor, but it still sounds like a labor of love.
  22. Anyone expecting "Revolver" or "Hunky Dory" will soon find their patience sorely tested, though those hoping for a modest collection of whimsical indie melodies, some Beatlesy orchestral flourishes and some cleverly off-kilter rhythms may find much to enjoy in these brief 11 songs.
  23. It's Field Music's strength that after a short time, this music finds a way of affecting the listener in a subtle yet deep way.
  24. The real glory is in watching the trio pull it all off live, perfect harmonies and all.
  25. 60
    Pretty, weird and tricky to get a handle on. [Mar 2007, p.136]
  26. Extremely unoriginal, but well-crafted rock shot through with tantalizingly brief moments of interest.
  27. While not entirely mainstream, Tones of Town is also not all that interesting.
  28. 50
    For all its obvious wit and fizzy energy, Tones of Town ultimately feels self-congratulatory and a bit cold-hearted. [Feb 2007, p.83]
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. Roco
    10
    Wonderful from start to finish!
  2. MikeM
    2
    Sorry Can't Recommend this AT ALL. One of the worst albums ive heard this year....i lied it is the worst i've HEARD this year. im sure there's worse, but i dont like to waste my money... Full Review »
  3. EpicC
    10
    Solid and overall just plain fun. Really upbeat and with lots of great hooks and melodies. I highly recommend!