The Week That Was
For whatever reason, I don’t seem to pay particular attention to what’s appearing in Pitchfork’s “Best New Music” category all that often, but as luck might have it I made note of their enthusiastic review of the new album by a group called The Week That Was and decided to explore their music.
The group apparently comprises members of the now-defunct Field Music (plus some). For what it’s worth, I know nothing about Field Music and have heard nothing of their material – so I can’t comment on how this compares to that band’s work.
What The Week That Was do offer is concise, smart, distinctive pop music with an atmosphere that sounds heavily influenced by 80s new wave and prog: new wave in its precise yet sensitive approaches and lush melodic arrangements, prog in its fascination with time signature changes, Baroque-esque counterpoint and its eccentric approaches to modulation and moving between segments. Some moments I find remiscent of Echo & The Bunnymen, while others had me thinking of Japan if they were presented in a warmer, more organic context.
“Wait right there Joe – did you just say prog? Forget about it!”
Sure, so prog is a four letter word to a lot of people. While I won’t deny enjoying my share of Yes and King Crimson, I recognise there’s a lot about prog rock that leaves people cold. This, to me, highlights all the more just how remarkable it is that band leader Peter Brewis manages to bring his somewhat intricate approach to writing and arranging together in such an unconvoluted and unpretensious manner. To me, the songs always have a sense of genuine personality to them, and the pieces never seem gratiutious or self-indulgent. If anything, a number of the songs feel like more could be made of them, but the band seem to have decided to go down the cautious route: the album’s 8 tracks clock in at around 33 minutes.
My first listen of the album saw me feeling pretty neutral about the first two tunes. I felt like the music was pretty remiscent of other bands of British invasions gone by (The Futureheads, Kaiser Chiefs, etc), but by the time I had ventured further it was pretty clear that these guys are in a completely different league. By the time I’d got to “The Airport Line” I was in the bag. Having played it many times over now, I’m pretty convinced this is a great album by a great group, and I highly recommend you check it out.
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