Field Studies [Import]

Well, I may be just another happy prole but the last two CDs from Quasi lead me to believe that there is still hope for pop music. Just how does Sam Coomes manage to wangle such a sound out of his beat up Roxichord? And finally in Janet a drummer who knows how to drive a pop song along to a delirious peak. The hook-laden choruses and careful attention to song structure reminds me of the 60s Kinks, Big Star and The Move. But the sound will remind you of no other band. The wall of sound fuzzed-out keyboards create a sonic world that belongs only to Quasi. And for my money, Sam's slash and slide guitar work - used judiciously on just a few tunes - is the best thing to happen to rock since the B-52's realized that you don't need all six strings to make some music. Forget what some jaded reviewers have to say here about the lyrics, because they are clever but real attempts at dealing with the aftermath of a broken relationship. By all means, buy Featuring Birds and Field Studies, and don't miss their awesome live show. It is practically a religious experience.

Quasi has yet to replicate their incredible live sound on record. Only 'R&B Transmogrification' comes close, although it is far too dry sounding. On this album Sam Coomes, once again, churns out some great melodies and great rhymes. However, much of the kick of the two previous albums are missing--which means that the sounds here are far removed from the burst of noise that one hears at a live Quasi show. For the great songs this album is lacking 1) the noise (the absence of the roxichord is evident on this album) and 2) Janet's versatile and kinetic drumming (ex. 'our happiness' on 'Featuring 'birds'').

The most effective songs here feature Elliott Smith on bass. His playing is, as always, very tuneful. And in the tradition of Led Zeppelin, Quasi has released 'Birds,' the supposedly featured track of the previous album, an album later (see 'Houses of the Holy). One false note is the obnoxiously long 'A Fable with No Moral.' As the title states: this song goes nowhere. This song should have been subtitled 'Empty Words.'

But despite my reservations, Quasi is infectious. The album ends with a gorgeous ballad ('Let's Just Go') that ends abruptly and we are left with the buzzing sound of the amps before the plug is pulled.

Go check 'em out live...

Picking up where they left off may sound like a turn off, but when you make music this good, why change a thing? Its one thing to write decent pop-rock n'roll songs, but to make them so the listener wants to listen to them all day and all night is a relm many music makers can't claim to be in. Janet and Sam are in this relm. I had to warm up to the first handful of songs on 'Field Studies,' simply because they kind of lacked the punch of the starters on "R&B" and "...Birds" but was taken in completely by the time the album ended. Sam's lyrics(i think he wrote all the songs this time)and melodies are on once again especially with 'Me & My Head,' 'Two by Two,'and 'Smile.' Its amazing what he(they're) is able to fit into a bar of music. Sam is able to pen words that teeter perfectly between somewhat silly and simplistically deep and thoughtful. Janet is tops not only with the drumming but the sound of her drums is remarkable. Her voice once again compliments Sam's perfectly, giving the final result one of those "great-parts-in-a-song" butterfly feelings you get inside of you. 'Field Studies' is a bit smoother song structure-wise than the other Quasi offerings and isn't as fuzzy and distroted. It isn't one of those, "you need to listen to the whole thing at once" albums but each song on 'Feild Studies' in some ways links itself or segues perfectly into another song; much like 'The Soft Bulletin' by The Flamming Lips earlier this year. Needless to say, its a very wonderful music listening experience.