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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.
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(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.
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