Transmission Fields

This self-titled release, eminently hummable/harmonizable, is a little gem for those who like their pop rock like R.E.M. or Built to Spill.

The goal going into this project would be a sound reflective of the collaborative diversity of the members in the band. They brought a clue as to what a song might be to the studio, but each song would grow from this seedling and morph as it matured and the band chiseled and then fine tuned the resulting song. There was no canned approach in play here!

This sunny alternative rock act continues to channel R.E.M. and Matthew Sweet. Memorable hooks and hummable choruses add darker moods, and an epic lullaby closes this sophomore release.

"This Charlotte, NC band has an engaging sound that comes in somewhere between indie pop and power pop, and the opening track "While I Sleep" is a perfect example of the best of both styles - just try getting that "I belieeeeve it all" chorus out of your head. Other standouts include the kinetic "Hero", which suggests a more conventional Guided by Voices with a longer attention span; the languid "Days of Waiting", and the near-Americana of "Run". A promising debut and with 8 tracks, a bargain at $5."

"You'd be forgiven for thinking such an inclusive-sounding album would take the kitchen-sink tack on its miniature pop odyssey, and Transmission Fields will inevitably attract the ire of avant-garde rockists who'd rather they did. Almost a century of amorphous "modernism" has maligned the simplistic, melodic, and sentimental urges that periodically surface in the slipstream of musical composition. But for every blandly pretty ballad, there's a song like "While I Sleep," which swaddles its quintessentially bubblegum chords in sheets of bittersweet counterpoint melody.

It's hard to pin down why Transmission Fields never feel like they're talking down to you or skirting the airbrushed condescension of a Coldplay single in their uber-accessible tracks. The greatest asset on that count is probably Lee Neitzel's effortlessly superior voice, which anchors anthemic refrains with ideal falsetto and just a pinch of rasp. There's something geographically on point about this quartet of North Carolinians as well—where we might expect shiny bombast from such power pop, the Fields are more about coziness, which is why the breezy southern rock guitar solo in "Run" comes more naturally than the glassy left-field electro-breakdown in "Days of Waiting." And while those valleys do cut swaths between the high points—and sometimes TF are guilty of killing time before the climb—I won't argue with a band that successfully molds conventions rather than casually obliterating them."

"The Transmission Fields' mood-laden, echo-harnessed, harmony-laced and melody-tinged power pop has been evolving nicely over the past year. The Charlotte collective's music gels like they are long-running veterans, as exhibited by the quartet's loosely-wound yet strong 8-track debut Words, Numbers, and Phonetic Sounds released last fall."

"The debut 8-song album by Charlotte foursome Transmission Fields aptly introduces itself with a memorable melody and strikingly poetic lyrics. It remains consistent throughout. Balancing whimsy and aching, the group’s hummable pop-rock hooks recall classic R.E.M. or ‘90s alternative pop such as Matthew Sweet. “Hero,” on the other hand, veers towards Superchunk-style indie-rock. “Days of Waiting” builds a beachy-bluesy intro into a melancholy rock chorus reminiscent of Verses.

Neitzel’s voice glides easily into his upper register while flanked by nicely understated harmonies. The band maintains its own sound throughout, yet “Words” is laced with shades of Americana due to Neitzel’s slightly twangy phrasing (especially on “Run”) and the warmth of dreamy shoegazer pop."

"Crafted with a strong ear for multi-part harmonies, and an obvious fondness for gentle synth and keyboard baubles, the T-Fields' user-friendly melodies land somewhere between Beulah's quirk and Coldplay's orchestral swoon on the sounds-like meter."