“The jangle and the twang were the back-to-the-roots bedroom project of Lars from Subterfuge. Now a proper band with Christoph, Mark and Philipp joining in.”
The Radio Field are from Düsseldorf, Germany, and they play jangle pop, which could also be classified as indie rock or alternative rock. I never really knew what jangle is, but then I did my homework so that I can be a responsible music reviewer 🙂
I have learned quite a lot by reviewing albums, as every time I come across a genre I don’t recognise, I listen to the album before looking it up on the internet, just so I can take in the music without thinking about tags.
In my ears, there is a lot of Brit sound here, from Blur to The Smiths, and it also reminded me of bands like R.E.M. in some parts. Apparently, I wasn’t that far off, as these are all bands relevant to the genre, but there are also elements of post-punk here, as well as a general ‘college rock’ vibe.
I’m not sure if they are actually using Rickenbackers or any 12-string guitars. Still, there is a definite twangy banjo-like quality to the sound, and enough psychedelia to go around as well as nostalgic sounds that are sometimes reminiscent of late 50s, early 60s, just like in ‘A Mess’ which is a brilliant case of great songwriting and lyrics where the band aren’t taking themselves too seriously!
I liked the addition of female vocals in a couple of songs. Also, there is a good balance in the album between high energy, upbeat tracks with more overdriven guitar sounds and more clean sounding guitars and mid tempo songs (as well as songs where these elements co exist like in ‘What it takes’ where it’s a full on ‘The Cure’ formula for the guitar arrangements).
In addition, some moments are borderline country-Americana but packaged quite differently (including a great use of trumpets, reminiscent of some 90s bands that incorporated brass!). Therefore, it is definitely appealing to listeners who are not big fans of the genre. After all this is a band from Europe, and Americana or country can never be as popular as in the US, and thankfully, as personally I think there is something about European music that (excluding the UK in this case, they do have a sound of their own) that is very unique and melodic so every time I hear something put through that filter, I find it very interesting.
My absolute favourite song was the last track, ‘Same’, which reminded me of some of my favourite bands, like Muse, with a melancholic (but not goth) vibe throughout.
Written by Spiros Maus
