Field Relief. a fungus

Amsterdam alternative rock band a fungus debuted on the blog in 2022 with (a single of) debut album 'It Already Does That'. I started my review with: "Not everyone can play Champions League", to follow up this statement by musing how nice it is to play in other finals. In hindsight the comparison is not very fair. Where players of the mentioned clubs wear Rolexes and drive Ferrari's, for musicians it means having to take a full-time job, while creating and playing music on the side that includes the rest of life. It's not for nothing that so many young and very talented bands call it quits.

Lucky for us a fungus, Max ten Oever, guitar, vocals, Otto de Jong, guitar, vocals, Boudewijn Scholten, bass, vocals and Timo van Sark, drums, synths and artwork, is still here and has released a new album today, Field Relief. (The piano in several tracks is played by Lyckle de Jong.) Where alternative rock and postpunk are still the starting point, some things have changed. The sound of Field Relief has a more lofi quality and several songs are smaller than on the debut. As if a fungus realised that it will never be as good as the competition and focused on two things instead: that what it's best at and sounding more authentic. In my opinion it has succeeded in both ways.

Field Relief opens with a track called 'intro'. It's instrumental and can be called something close to modern classic as interpreted by a postpunk band. I could settle for sped up minimal music as well, where the speed allows for the changes in several seconds instead of twenty minutes or so. 'Intro' will prick up your ears immediately, as it simply is not what one expects from a postpunk / alternative rock band.

With the single '3x3' the albums blossoms as it changes from atmosphere. Again an electronic rhythm is a part of the song, also giving the album an additional, electronic vibe. It makes me think of several bands coming out of Belgium in the past decades. Melodies that are never your straightforward ones and sounds not aimed at beauty but certainly aim for an overall effect that is strongly effective. With that approach a fungus leaves the Dutch postpunk scene behind, at least in a part of Field Relief. What remained are the sometimes disruptive rhythms, that can sound quite unsettling and as a stimulation to listen more attentively.

Promo photo

So, do not despair, as a fungus choses its moments and battles. When it postrocks, it postrocks with a bigger effect. Take 'All The Names'. From a more uptempo but still fairly soft environment and electric guitar does go for it, pricking my ears no little. The sound is dirty, yet modest. 'All The Names' can still be called a fairly small song, until the outro that is. At certain points on the album a fungus manages to create the bigger effect on the listener by not holding back anymore.

Take the way the final song, 'Group Remembering', is built up. Again it starts small but slowly but surely it takes on epic proportions. Louder and louder it gets and finally the whole band throws off whatever it was holding it back by on Field Relief. Whoops and howls adorn the music. Just don't expect any lyrics. At the same time the song remains elementary and almost primitive. a fungus does not do subtlety nor beauty, nor cleaning things up in the mix. In that most of Field Relief sounds more like a (lo-fi) demo than a recording and that will have been a conscious choice. (Lo-fi) indie and alternative are the right words here. With a song like 'Feeder' a fungus rocks no little with lyrics.

If you like music somewhere between these parameters than you definitely have to check out this album. a fungus shows a few sides of itself and dares to bare itself musically. The result is an album filled with honest songs, that present the band exactly how it wants be heard.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Field Relief here:

https://subroutine.nl/product/pre-order-a-fungus-field-relief-sr129-lp/