Okay it's not very often I'll get to say this so here goes - "I first got into Field Music after hearing their lead track from this very album '(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing' on Stuart Maconie's afternoon show on 6 Music and liking the drum sound."

I kid you not when I say that I actually pulled my car over one wintry December afternoon so as to ensure my DAB reception didn't drop out at the vital moment just so I could find out who it was making the joyous Roxy Music/Be Bop Deluxe meets Led Zeppelin homage that was permeating from my car stereo.  A few quick Google searches later and having streamed most of the band's back catalogue that evening I was suddenly a fan of the brothers Brewis, and simply had to posses their albums.

A few months on and three studio album purchases later (I've yet to dive into the solo albums) and I'm now URHQ's resident expert on the Sunderland prog poppers and I'm suddenly faced with the daunting task of reviewing the band's fourth full studio album 'Plumb'...Gulp.  The million-dollar question being though which version of Field Music will I find this time around? Will it be a return to the indie pop of their self-titled debut, or maybe more of the conceptual powerpop of the lads second album 'Tones Of The Town', perhaps most likely I'll just find a continuation of the epic self indulgent American MOR rock of their superb last album 'Field Music (Measure)'?  Well at 15 tracks and a little over 33 minutes in length it most certainly isn't the latter that's for sure. In fact this could be Field Music's hardcore album, hardcore prog that is.

Gone are the Todd Rundgren-ims (or the XTC produced by Rundgren-isms) and in their place we have a quintessentially British sounding record that whilst still being every bit as challenging and quirky as its predecessors. Perhaps the only nod across the Atlantic coming during the first few bars of album opener 'Start The Day Right' as the orchestral build sounds just like an outtake from 'Spilt Milk', the legendary second album by everyone's fave powerpop band Jellyfish. But then as the first three tracks all merge into one I'm actually felling a bit confused by what is unfolding in front of me, and I am starting to understand why the 100 odd word reviews in the broadsheets couldn't get anywhere near describing this album in any other way than giving it a simple thumbs up though. 

'Plumb' is certainly ticking all the right boxes as we run through reference points such as Badfinger (tick), E.L.O (tick), Queen (tick), 10cc (tick) and The Who (tick) but where are the songs?  Hold on though didn't I have this feeling pervading through me when I first listened to that second album masterpiece from Sturmer and Co? Thankfully by track four 'A New Town' we do get something that could be released as a single and this four minute tune is a bit of a grower built on a funky bass groove that then simply cruises along on a mid 80's Queen synth riff straight into 'Choosing Sides' a track so British it sounds like lumpy gravy and comes complete with some de rigueur prog pop swearing.

And talking of prog there is more than just a touch of Syd era Floyd on tracks like 'Guillotine' and 'So Long Then', both tracks sounding uncannily like the eighties had never happened, however Field Music do not forget the era of the mullet altogether on 'Plumb' as 'Just Like Anyone Else' is a nod towards the kings of the short on the sides long at the back hairstyle yup you guessed it Tears For Fears.  Ending the album where my Field Music love affair started '(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing' is the perfect track with which to first jump in the fire and try and "discover" the intricate delights of this sophisticated band. 'Plumb' however may not be to everyone's tastes, so if you don't like intricate prog pop take my advice and start with 'Field Music (Measure)' and see what you think.

Field Music most certainly made me stop and think when I first got to hear them, they made me reassess what I was getting from listening to countless bands ultimately nearly all sounding the same, and sadly I had to admit that was the best part of nothing. 

'Plumb' is music to challenge your preconceptions about what constitutes real quality in music, and is a subtle reminder to me that Stuart Maconie can't always be wrong about the music he likes.

http://www.field-music.co.uk/