Aug 4, 1999, 2:20 pm PT
There's no such thing as a free lunch, but thanks to major labels there are such things as free shows. Former indie-rockers turned Warner Bros. recording artists Sense Field played the first of two free showcase shows on Tuesday (Aug. 3) at the Viper Room in West Hollywood, Calif.
Sense Field singer Jonathan Bunch described the show as "a celebration of the completion of our first album with Warner Bros." Sense Field's last album, Building, was initially released in 1996 by indie label Revelation Records and later picked up by Warner Bros. and re-released.
In a 10-song set that featured eight songs from the new album and two older songs, Sense Field displayed a refreshing blend of soft and hard guitars and slow and fast melodies that were catchy enough to keep your head bouncing and dynamic enough to make you miss a beat. On the new tracks, Bunch tackles such weighty issues as war and forgiveness, the passing of friends, and, of course, love.
Sense Field has employed the cliché of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" as they take the sound they've cultivated through their nine years of existence and have built upon it without having changed their sound or execution. Of the eight new songs, the crowd responded most favorably to the melodic, distortion mix of "Emergency Exit" and the keyboard accompanied "The Horse Is Alive."
Sense Field also debuted their new drummer, Rob Pfeiffer, who replaced recently-departed Scott McPherson.
Here is the track listing for Sense Field's self-titled major-label debut, due out in January 2000:
1. "War Of The Worlds"
2. "The Horse Is Alive"
3. "Are You Okay"
4. "Emergency Exit"
5. "One More Time Around"
6. "Open-Heart Surgery"
7. "To End A Letter"
8. "Love Song"
9. "Welcome Me"
10. "In Election"
11. "Am I A Fool"