Over the course of two albums and a clutch of B-sides, Field
Music made the most intelligent and enjoyable post-punk-pop music to
surface in recent years. When the Sunderland, UK, band decided to go on
hiatus last year, many were baffled by what seemed to be a prematurely
short lifespan. Guitarist/drummer David Brewis, who founded Field Music
with his brother Peter, explains, “Nobody’s saying we’re not going to
do a Field Music record—we’re just saying this wouldn’t be a very
good time to do one, because that’s not the best way of getting our
ideas out at the moment. People seem quite excited that there’s going
to be lots of other things going on.”
Indeed, David Brewis has already embarked on a solo project under
the name School of Language, and his Sea from Shore is so good
that any lingering disappointment over Field Music’s hiatus will be
instantly jettisoned when one listens to the first track, “Rockist Part
1,” the first in a group of songs based around an a cappella loop of
vowel sounds. The “Rockist” quartet first builds up then deconstructs a
wall of perfect, intellectual pop, with fits, starts, jerks, and
turnarounds giving shape to the melodies and muscular guitar lines. An
easy point of reference is friends and fellow Sunderlanders the
Futureheads, as filtered through the mad-tea-party of XTC, but in truth
Brewis has created something uniquely enjoyable.
Brewis, who played almost every part on the album, says, “When I’m
writing a song, I tend to have most of the arrangements in my head from
very early on in the process, so explaining to somebody what I wanted
them to do—fairly exactly—seems like a bad way to do a
collaborative record. It’s probably quicker and less disingenuous just
to try and figure out how to do it myself.”
For live shows, however, School of Language is a three-piece, and
Brewis has managed to avoid the pitfalls of what made his previous band
frustrating in a live setting. “I suppose with Field Music, the live
thing was so arranged. I can’t think of a way we could’ve done that
better, really, because it was just complicated stuff. But I’m keen at
the moment not to do things like that. I’m really enjoying being the
guitar player in this band.”
Visit endhits.portlandmercury.com for the full interview with David Brewis.