Field Music - Field Music (Measure)

It's been three years since Field Music announced their hiatus, and we'd be the first to warmly welcome them back to our stereos and stages - if they'd actually convinced us they'd taken the time off. The brothers Brewis are back from their non-holiday, and with a double album no less. Though no one expected Field Music to turn in a self-indulgent trainwreck for their first dalliance with two discs, it's surprising just how ambitious and packed to the gills with career-topping material Measure is. While it's separated into two distinct halves, all 72 minutes beg to be consumed in rapid succession like Panda Pops at a school disco: the winning combination of sledgehammerin' Peter Gabriel drums and stuttering 70s post-punk stylings with a Kinks-like predilection for simple melodies. It's that fuzzy Field Music groove we know and love, but it's back in abundance. Like they ever went away. [Ian Crichton]