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The Field Mice | |
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| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1987–1991 |
| Labels | Sarah Records |
| Past members |
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The Field Mice were an English indie pop band on the independent record label Sarah Records. [3] They had top 20 success in both the singles and albums UK Independent Charts.
The Field Mice initially formed as a duo from South London suburb of Mitcham comprising Robert Wratten (for vocals and guitar) and Michael Hiscock (on bass guitar). The group's first single, "Emma's House", was released in November 1988, and reached number 20 in the UK Independent Chart. [4] [5] But it was with their second single "Sensitive" that they first received significant critical attention, [6] giving them a top-20 indie hit and with a subsequent placing in John Peel's 1989 Festive Fifty. [7] Debut mini-album Snowball reached number 3 on the UK Indie Albums Chart. [5] The original duo were joined by Harvey Williams (of Another Sunny Day) on guitar: the first fruits of this new line-up being the Skywriting mini-LP and in late 1990 the band expanded to include Anne Mari Davies on vocals, keyboards and guitar and Mark Dobson on drums. [3] This five-piece line-up later recorded what was to be their final album (but their first full length for Sarah Records), For Keeps . [4]
Over a five-year career, the band were often dogged with the reputation of having a post-C86 indie pop, or generic Sarah Records sound, despite producing tracks with numerous styles and influences. [3] Early singles and even their sleeves harked back to early Factory Records bands such as New Order and the Wake, with many tracks often featuring sequencers and samples. Many of the group's recordings, notably "Triangle" and their epic seven-minute swan song, "Missing the Moon", displayed a strong influence from the popular dance music of the time. [3] Most of the group's records were produced by Ian Catt, who later went on to develop the pop dance sound of "Missing the Moon" further with Saint Etienne (whose second single was a cover version of the Field Mice's "Let's Kiss and Make Up"). [4]
The band split up in 1991 after a fractious tour to promote the For Keeps album, during which lead singer/guitarist Robert Wratten announced he was leaving. [3]
Later, Field Mice members Wratten, Anne Mari Davies (Wratten's ex-girlfriend) and Mark Dobson briefly formed Yesterday Sky before becoming the more synth-oriented outfit Northern Picture Library. Wratten went on to form Trembling Blue Stars in 1995 and Lightning in a Twilight Hour. [3]
A double-album compilation of the now long-deleted Field Mice releases, Where'd You Learn to Kiss That Way? , was released in 1998 and sold more copies than any Field Mice record ever sold at the time. Their entire back catalogue was reissued on CD for the first time by LTM Recordings in 2005. [8]
Indie pop is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and subsequently generated a thriving fanzine, label, and club and gig circuit. Compared to its counterpart, indie rock, the genre is more melodic, less abrasive, and relatively angst-free. In later years, the definition of indie pop has bifurcated to also mean bands from unrelated DIY scenes/movements with pop leanings. Subgenres include chamber pop and twee pop.
The Wake are a British post-punk, synth-pop and later indie pop band, formed in Glasgow in 1981 by Gerard "Caesar" McInulty, Steven Allen (drums) and Joe Donnelly (bass), the latter replaced by Bobby Gillespie. Steven's sister Carolyn Allen also joined on keyboards, and remained in the band thereafter. Gillespie left the band in 1983, replaced by Martin Cunning and then by Alexander 'Mac' Macpherson.
The Sarah Records' catalogue consists of around a hundred items, each of which has a catalogue number. The items from Sarah 001 to Sarah 100 are mostly 7 inch singles. Exceptions are:
The New Record by My Bloody Valentine is the second EP by the Irish-English alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine, released in September 1986 on Kaleidoscope Sound. Recorded at Alaska Studios in London, the EP's sound is influenced by C86, a brand of indie pop, and diverges from the band's earlier post-punk sound.
"Sunny Sundae Smile" is a song by the alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine. It was released as a non-album single in February 1987 on Lazy Records. Recorded at Alaska Studios in London, "Sunny Sundae Smile" was the band's first release on Lazy Records and the final release to feature original vocalist David Conway.
"Feed Me with Your Kiss" is a song by the alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine, and was released as a single and also the lead track to the EP of the same name through Creation Records. It is the seventh track and lead single from the band's debut studio album Isn't Anything. It was released on 31 October 1988.
Trembling Blue Stars was the London-based band based music project of Robert Wratten, started in 1996. Later consisting of Harvey Williams, Jonathan Akerman, Keris Howard, Michael Hiscock, and Beth Arzy who replaced Annemari Davies in 2000. Initially begun as a side project of Wratten's previous band Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars became Wratten's main band when Northern Picture Library broke up in 1995. Wratten took the name of his band from The Story of O by Pauline Réage. Trembling Blue Stars are characterized by melancholic songs with shimmering guitars and introspective lyrics.
Northern Picture Library was a British dream pop group, formed in 1993 by Bobby Wratten and Anne Mari Davies, both former members of The Field Mice. They were soon joined by former Field Mice drummer Mark Dobson.
For Keeps is the third and final album by The Field Mice. It was also their very first full-length release on Sarah Records - their previous two, Skywriting and Snowball, being mini-albums. "For Keeps" adheres to the Field Mice blueprint of ambient electronica combined with wistful acoustic/jangle pop with Bobby Wratten's lovelorn lyrical obsessions, best represented on the alternately reflective and soaring highlight that is "Star of David".
Whipped Cream was a rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1989.
Honeybunch is an indie pop band from Providence, Rhode island formed in 1987 by future Velvet Crush member Jeffrey Underhill, releasing a string of records before splitting up in 1995. The band reformed in 2003.
"Kiss and Make Up" is a song by Saint Etienne, released as a single in 1990. It is a cover version of "Let's Kiss and Make Up", a song by The Field Mice from their 1989 album, Snowball.
Snowball is the debut album by England twee pop group The Field Mice. It was originally released as a 10" vinyl LP on September 4, 1989 through Sarah Records.
Skywriting is the second album by the Field Mice.
Coastal is a compilation album by The Field Mice.
Where'd You Learn to Kiss That Way? is a compilation album by The Field Mice.
"Sensitive" is the second single by The Field Mice. It was released as a 7" vinyl record on Sarah Records in February 1989, and included a fold-out poster depicting a leaf. Sensitive, on which the band's sound verged on shoegazing, has been described as "an anthemic statement of purpose...a defence of feeling...and a comment on the way sensitivity is criticized, or punished even". The single reached number 12 in the UK Independent Chart in March that year. "Sensitive" was also voted at number 26 in the 1989 Festive 50. Both tracks from the single were later included on the CD reissue of the band's debut mini-album Snowball.
So Said Kay is an EP by the Field Mice. It was released as a 10" vinyl record.
Dead Famous People are a New Zealand indie pop band formed in Auckland, active from the latter half of the 1980s onward. Dead Famous People are still active today, Savage using various collaborators, with a new album being recorded in Auckland New Zealand, following an extended break taken to raise her son, Harry.
Her Handwriting is the debut album by English indie pop band Trembling Blue Stars, released in May 1996 as the first album on Shinkansen Recordings. The album is an intimate song cycle centred on the romantic break-up of frontman Bobby Wratten and Anne Mari Davies, his former bandmate in The Field Mice and Northern Picture Library. After writing several songs about the break-up in early 1995 that Wratten believed to be messy, he discarded them, but engineer and musician Ian Catt persuaded him to record material based on the break-up in his own studios in Mitcham, South London, over the subsequent autumn and winter.
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