Album Review: Field Music, “Plumb” (Memphis Industries)

Posted by staticblog

on February 20, 2012M at 10:10 am

Rating: 90

Following 2010′s “Measure,” a sprawling collection in which Field Music’s David and Peter Brewis streamlined their jagged rhythmic stance, “Plumb” is a hasty retreat from normalcy. In 35 minutes, the Brewises deploy 15 songs, which means the average song is a little over two minutes long, but “Plumb” is economical and thoughtfully organized, not loud and fast. This is bite-size art rock, like an early Genesis album in a time crunch.

“Plumb” plays out like a day in the life, beginning with the symphonic churn of “Start the Day Right,” in which the chaos of morning dumps the protagonist into the rat race, where he’s late catching a train, apologizing in “Sorry Again, Mate” in the nicest, most Paul McCartney way possible. The Brewises clearly and dearly love Macca’s song structures, and the shifts on “Plumb” recall segues he engineered when putting together side two of “Abbey Road.” The nervous British funk on “A New Town,” accentuated by bubble noises and the brothers’ falsettos, has more impact when it is bookended by “Sorry Again, Mate” and the odd time signatures of their edgy lament on clutter and romance, “Choosing Sides.”

Each song is a model of efficiency: As the title suggests, “Plumb” is engineered to exact specifications, perfect in its construction. If Field Music sometimes comes across as coldly precise art-school pop, the warmth comes through in the lovely ballad “From Hide and Seek to Heartache” and the stunning a cappella interlude “How Many More Times.” The final tracks on “Plumb” show prove the Brewises’ power-pop bona fides, especially the soaring denouement, “(I Keep Thinking About) a New Thing.” Still mourning the loss of XTC after all these years? Field Music’s “Plumb” picks up where your precious Andy Partridge left off.

— George Lang

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