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Field Mouse are a very new dreampop band from NYC that sent us some promos. They are a pretty new band, apparently only together for about two years at this point. They are a four-piece making a sort of light, female-voiced dreampop. I tend to enjoy this sort of thing, but your mileage may vary.
The You Guys Are Gonna Wake Up My Mom b/w Happy 7" is actually their third release, the previous two being digital singles, i.e., downloadable songs. Let's look at those two first, then come back to their debut of actual product.
On 3.May.2011 Field Mouse made their first release available as a free download on their BandCamp page. It is a cover of Helicopter, which was on the just released Deerhunter album, Halcyon Digest. You might remember that on that record, Bradford Cox decided that he wanted to be an old-fashioned crooner more than a singer. I didn't get it, and quite honestly that is the Deerhunter record i am least familiar with. However, it apparently had an effect on this band. Their version starts off with vocalist Rachel Browne singing clearly over burbling keys, and then the whole band kicks in, a huge upswell of the music that is immediately recognizable as Deerhunter-esque. They capture the spirit of the tune quite well and faithfully, but Browne's voice is less nasally that Cox's, and so seems a little better suited to this crooning vocal style. I also like how her voice is almost buried under the dense guitar and keyboard parts. So, a decent debut.
On 10.January.2012 Field Mouse came out with another free track, this one an original called Glass, also available on their BandCamp page. This tune has a nice beat, good layers of keys, and chiming guitar. Browne's voice is clear and crisp, but also nasally and clipped. She is pronouncing words in a slightly weird way that reminds me of Dead Leaf Echo, a sort of whining drone, almost talking the words, each line just drifting off. Perhaps this is a New Yorker pronunciation quirk. To me as a Southerner, it sounds a little off. But, that aside, this is a decent tune. A good follow-up from this young band.
A month later they came out with actual product to sell at shows, a 7" on Small Plates Records. Sadly, the promo people only sent me a download of this and not the actual 7" product, so i cannot common on the production values of Small Plates Records, not even the cool die-cut cover that they show in the photos on BandCamp. (BTW, you can listen to the tunes on BandCamp, but not download them.) So let's just discuss the music.
The A-side has a great, silly title, and starts slowly with oohing vocals and a chiming guitar fade in. The song builds to a nice crescendo, at which point Field Mouse reminds me of Pale Saints after Meriel Barham took over the vocals. The chorus of this song is really catchy, just toe-tappingly happy, but buried under deep fuzziness. Great work.
The B-Side starts a lot like Asobi Seksu tune, with whining keys and guitars wailing away. Browne'svoice sounds a little deeper here, which works with the noisier, grinding music. Another excellent tune, although a little more shoegaze than dreampop.
Overall, i have to admit to being impressed. Ms. Browne and company are making interesting music. I suppose that i have to be in NYC to ever see them live though. Maybe that will change at some point.
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