Field Music & The SCCC
>> King Tuts
>> 27th April 2006
Last night I was in an unenviable position. A text message invite was sitting on the old mobile phone assuring me my place at Thursday evening’s Field Music gig. Somewhat cruelly, on my table there was a pile of four essays needing urgent attention. And, finally, there’s myself, with a big metaphorical blitzkreig raging between the opposing factions of my conscience. So what do you do? You say ‘F**k it’ and sit down with your laptop to finish the essays. And then half an hour later you say ‘F**k it’ again while strapping on your cycle helmet and heading to St Vincent St.
I suppose the point is this – essays are shitter than gigs…
… especially so in tonight’s case. The mighty Seal Cub Clubbing Club from Liverpool stepped up early to deliver the best support slot I’ve seen in bloody ages. With a mere two eps available to the generally general public you’d be forgiven for not expecting too much, but, like me, you’d have been blown away.
I’ve not seen a front man so engrossed in sound since, well since ever. The songs are frisky little blighters too – rarely settling on one time signature and always with bigger and brighter ideas just on the horizon waiting to snag you. I’ll give it to you that the band name is gonna be enough to put a lot of people off (although they said that about Arctic Monkeys) but if you’re open enough to give them a try, the SCCC will drop your jaw.
And then! Playing its first Scottish headline date: Field Music. Shamefully Tut’s was only half full for this occasion. That’s right, I said shamefully! Hang your heads and think about what you’ve done! Or not done. Anyway, the boys didn’t seem terribly fazed and, going by the strength of the set, were out to deliver a good night.
Airing ‘If Only the Moon Were Up’ fairly early in the set they were on top form from the off. The set whisked around at a fair old rate but the sound maintained the crystal edginess of the album and singles. ‘Tell Me Keep Me’ is just an awesome tune while ‘You Can Decide’ airs and cements their Beatles/Beach Boys harmonic drive and genuinely imaginative arrangement skills.
There was even time for two new tunes and a b-side during the encore-less set and it really is a challenge to remember that this is a part-time band. The guys all have jobs; they write and record in their spare time and rarely tour. All this and they still piss from a great height on the many, many full-time booze, crack and glitz poseurs on the scene. There was no dry ice, light show or hangers on: the only thing spectacular was the music and the grounded attitudes with which it was delivered.
Seriously, if I’d missed tonight I would’ve been kicking myself for months. Next time an essay tries to guilt trip you into not living your life you can tell it to piss off from me.
>> Russell Moore
www.field-music.co.uk
www.thesealcubclubbingclub.com
Field Music INTERVIEW:
Lick: Hello! How are you?
Peter Brewis: I’m fine, I’m fine.
Lick: For anyone who doesn’t know Field Music can you tell us a bit about yourself?
PB: Well Me, Andy and Dave are Field Music. Me and Dave are brothers and we all went to the same school so that’s how we met. I think the first time we ever played together was for Andy’s GCSE music performance about 12 years ago. I think it was blues in F or something like that and we’ve just played together on and off ever since. I mean these guys were the first people I ever played with and will probably be the last people I ever play with!
Lick: Do you ever feel like expanding the band at all?
PB: Yeah well we think about expanding the band all the time. We audition people and they’re not very good! Usually I want to expand the band and add people that are already in other bands unfortunately. I think Barry Hyde [of the Futureheads] is probably quite busy at the moment and I think Tom English from Maximo Park is probably quite busy as well.
Lick: Yeah they’re doing not bad for themselves at the moment!
[Pete's Brother Dave Brewis joins us at the table]
Lick: I know you did the Barrowlands show with Maximo Park just before Christmas, but have you played in Glasgow other than that?
DB: Yeah we’ve played a few times before, not as Field Music though but in another band that we were all in, in the early days. The Barrowlands gig was great, a really good gig actually. It’s just a shame that we had to drive home straight afterwards that night. Oh, and we also played with British Sea Power at the University.
Lick: Have the all been good gigs then? Good crowd and stuff?
PB: Yeah well they weren’t there to see us but they seemed to enjoy it.
DB: The British Sea Power one was weird because they actually did two sets. They did a b-sides set before us and then their normal set after us and the crowd reacted to their first set as if they were a support band which was strange but in general the gigs have been really good up here. I’m really looking forward to finally playing in King Tuts cos everyone I’ve spoken to has told me how good a venue it is. It sounds nice you know? And the shape of the room is really nice.
Lick: Are then any plans for a second album then? I know the first album was out last year.
PB: Yeah we’re nearly finished the second one and that should be out in September hopefully.
Lick: You mentioned the Maximo Park guys and the Futurehead guys before, are you quite friendly with them then?
PB: Yeah I would say so! It’s a small town [Sunderland] you know so everyone really knows everyone. Well, that’s not really true I suppose…
DB: We were friends with the Futureheads before there was even a thing called the Futureheads or Field Music. Yeah we’ve know Barry and Dave for a really long time.
PB: And we’ll know them long after Field Music I’m sure.
DB: We’ll still know them when we’ve all retired and are just sitting around mowing our lawns. Dave’s a very committed gardener you see.
PB: And he’s learning to drive.
DB: He’s not a very committed driver though. Still hasn’t passed his test and his cars broken! As for the Maximo Park guys we actually met them through just gigging in Newcastle. Peter goes out and gets lashed with Paul Smith all the time and he seems to be sleeping in our house all the time!
Lick: do you have any plans for the summer at all? Any festival appearances?
DB: We’re doing a few dates with the Futureheads that ends about June and then we’ll be planning another tour to promote the second album I think.
Lick: Well thank you very much guys. Here’s your Lickmag.com quick fire questions!
Scotland or England?
PB: England
DB: Scotland!
Glasgow or Edinburgh?
DB: Glasgow
Celtic or Rangers?
PB: Sunderland
Ghostbusters 1 or Ghostbusters 2?
PB: Ghostbusters 1
DB: Actually Ghostbusters 2 because it’s got Jackie Wilson in it. I’m not as fond of the film but just to see the statue of liberty dancing about to *sings – Your Love is Taking Me Higher* - it’s a classic.
Kylie or Danni?
PB: Kylie
DB: Kylie
Mars or Snickers?
PB: Snickers
DB: Yep, Snickers
Beatles or the Stones?
PB: Beatles
DB: Beatles
Futureheads of Maximo Park?
PB: It’ll have to be the Futureheads.
DP: Yeah musically they float my boat.
PB: Plus they're from Sunderland and Maximo Park are a bunch of filthy mags!
Beard or Moustache?
PB: Well the Beard signifies Indie, while the moustache just signifies Reynolds. Pure Burt Reynolds.
DB: Yeah whatever the Reynolds has that’s my answer. Beard of Moustache? – Reynolds!
www.field-music.co.uk
www.thesealcubclubbingclub.com
