Sense Field
(Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi | Legal restrictions - Termini d'uso )
Sense Field , 5/10
Killed For Less , 5/10
Building , 5/10
Part Of The Deal , 4/10
Tonight And Forever , 4/10
Living Outside (2003), 4/10
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Sense Field are a Los Angeles band that plays a (very) unusual blend of progressive hardcore and emocore. Singer Jonathan Bunch and guitarists Chris Evenson and Rodney Sellars deconstruct soul-pop melodies in ever different styles. The EPs Sense Field (Run H20, 1991) and Premonitions (Run H20, 1992), later reissued as the album Sense Field (Revelation, 1994), mainly showcase the band's eclectism, although it rarely coalesces into real songs, and, when it does, it may sound like a preacher's secret morbid vision (Dreams, Voice, Found You).

Too much melodrama turns Killed For Less (Revelation, 1994) into a personal Bunch odyssey with Christian overtones. The stylistically neurotic collection nonetheless yields a few punk-pop anthems (Today And Tomorrow, Killed For Less, Bue Glass Man).

Building (Revelation, 1996) is even more direct in its emocore approach, and way less successful in melodic terms (No Man's Land, Overstand).

The band is hard to recognize on Part Of The Deal (GrapeOS, 1999), a mainstream AOR effort. The few songs that hark back to their roots (War Of The Worlds, One More Time Around) are a pathetic reminder of past greatness. The rest is midtempos, layers of guitars, atmospheric keyboards and assorted stereotypes for mass consumption.

(Translation by/ Tradotto da Gualtiero Sbandi)

I Sense Field sono un gruppo di Los Angeles che suona una miscela di progressive hardcore e emocore a dir poco insolita. Il cantante Jonathan Bunch e i chitarristi Chris Evenson e Rodney Sellars decostruiscono melodie soul-pop in stili sempre differenti. Gli Ep Sense Field (Run H2O, 1992) e Premonitions (Run H2O, 1992), ristampati piu' tardi cosi' come l'album Sense Field (Revelation, 1994), principalmente mettono in vetrina l'eclettismo della band, sebbene esso raramente si fonda in vere e proprie canzoni, e, quando cio' accade, puo' somigliare a una morbosa allucinazione segreta di un predicatore (Dreams, Voice, Found you).

Un tono eccessivamente melodrammatico trasforma Killed For Less (Revelation, 1994) in un'odissea personale di Bunch con sfumature Cristiane. L'album, stilisticamente nevrotico, produce nondimeno qualche inno punk-pop (Today And Tomorrow, Killed For Less, Blue Glass Man).

Building (Revelation, 1996) e' ancor piu' diretto nel suo approccio emocore, e meno riuscito in termini melodici (No Man's Land, Overstand).

Su Part Of The Deal (GrapeOS, 1999), un lavoro di AOR mainstream, la band stenta a riconoscersi. Le poche canzoni che rievocano le loro radici (War Of The Worlds, One More Time Around) sono un patetico richiamo ai fasti del passato. Il resto sono midtempo, strati di chitarre, tastiere d' atmosfera e stereotipi assortiti per il consumo delle masse.

Delayed for four years, Tonight And Forever (Nettwerk, 2001), the album that was supposed to follow Building, was released with the addition of some late-minute songs. Other than a couple of riffs in Emergency Exit and Here Right Here, this is a collection of slow, romantic ballads (Save Yourself, Am I a Fool, Weight of the World, What Never Dies) occasionally redeemed by a bit of sincere passion (the Foo Fighters-ian No Longer Now, Fun Never Ends) but more often smothered in AOR arrangements (Love Song).

Living Outside (Nettwerk, 2003), after the departure of Sellars, is a little too generic, even for the emo generation. Evenson and Bunch begin with punk fervor (Burn) but then flirt with synth-pop (No Medicine, Take What You Want,, Haunted). Mostly, they bet on the operatic arias of On Your Own and Feel What You Feel to yield a new hit.

Bunch died in 2016.

(Translation by/ Tradotto da Alessandro Isopo)

Dopo quattro anni di rinvii e con l'aggiunta di qualche canzone dell'ultima ora, finalmente vede la luce Tonight And Forever (Nettwerk, 2001), album che doveva essere il seguito di Building. A parte un paio di riff in Emergency Exit e Here Right Here, non sembra nulla più di una raccolta di ballate lente e romantiche (Save Yourself, Am I a Fool,Weight of the World, What Never Dies), talvolta nobilitate da un pizzico di sincera passione (No Longer Now, Fun Never Ends), ma più spesso soffocate in arrangiamenti da AOR (Love Song).

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