Field Day

Christian Television [7-inch] (2009)

Brian Shultz

I had a field day with Resonance. That band was a scrappy bunch of Virginia locals but they wrote some of the most heartfelt and personally/socially aware melodic hardcore around for their short time together. So it figures the singer would turn up in a new project likely referencing Dag Nasty, but what doesn't figure is that there aren't any vocals at all. Or that in no way shape or form do they resemble Dag.

Instead, Field Day's debut 7", Christian Television is a three-song spate of lurching but easy-going math rock not far from the likes of Ghosts and Vodka or a less tense June of 44. Though "The Fast" and "And Bi-Curious" (I get it!) are succinct spit-takes of restrained, head-swaying motion, four-minute-plus closer "Barbie with Gun" allows the band's dynamic rhythms and changes to stretch with more space. The guitars play off each other well in this one, driving into long fits of Built to Spill-esque distortion and off-key pulls towards the bridge and finish. It's familiar, but done well.

This might not be what you expect from its pedigree, but it's a pleasant and affable surprise all the same.

And according to their MySpace, they're already broken up. Damn dude, can't you keep a band together for more than a minute?

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The Fast
And Bi-Curious