Marshall Crenshaw Does It Again!

Whenever I come across new artists I like, I have the tendency to acquire as much of their music as humanly possible. But lately, I've noticed a trend in my ever-developing listening habit's, I pace.

Simply put, I take my time jumping from one album to another. I listen to one album, usually the something preceding whatever it is I wind up playing next, and I take my time with it. There's no rushing, it's just simply enjoying the music and whatever it is the artist I'm listening has to offer.

In short: Since I listen to nothing but music that was released before I was born, I take my time with album and in the process, I build up hype for the preceding album; anticipating whatever it was they did next.

That came a week ago through New Order's Low Life. And today, it came in the form of Marhsall Crenshaw's second album, Field Day and you know what, it pretty much met every expectation I had.

This album is just pure Marshall Crenshaw.

That's not said to discredit Marshall Crenshaw. Quite the contrary, Field Day is the perfect follow up to Crenshaw's self-titled debut released the previous year.

His lyrical adolescent charms and his hook for conjuring amazingly crisp and catchy melodies has gotten stronger, perhaps a bit more polished.

Just as his debut album opened with a punch of power-pop wonder in "There She Goes Again", Field Day opens up with "Whenever You're On My Mind". Without a doubt, it's the strongest song on the album. It's such a wonderful song.

This is the kind of pop song that has to be studied by songwriters. It's simple, it's catchy, it's lyrics are boyishly endearing; the song's strength lies in its simplicity. And most importantly, for album-listeners, it completely sets the tone for the rest of the album.

In the past couple years, I could never quite an album I just want to hold and cherish. The kind of album you want to take with you everywhere just for the sake of having it, much like a security blanket.

I can honestly say I haven't really felt this way about an album since 2007, when waiting for me in a balikbayan box was The Replacements' Let It Be.

I think the reason for this is that hardly ever come across an album with an album with a strong, and highly melodic, opening track. That isn't to say that a good number of the albums I've listened to lately, far from it. There's they hardly any skeletal system in the track listings to many albums.

Most albums have their best song in the middle. It's almost like many artists and producers are worried that outside of the lead singles, the album's gonna suck so they bury the songs midway through instead of putting it at the top and having confidence in the piece of music their creating and sharing with the world.

The reason for that, I think, is this: Popular music, as a whole, has always relied on strong singles. You think about the history of Popular music, and you find that hardly ever is there any emphasis at all in full-album listening and that's because for the longest time, many artists relied on singles, especially newer musicians who couldn't take the financial gamble to record a full length album.

Getting back on track, Marshall Crenshaw is among the few masterminds pop music has ever seen and it's a crime that's almost completely ignored and under-looked. If the two album of his that I've listened to has anything to say, its Marshall Crenshaw is songsmith that utilizes pop music as his base. It's a piece of musical marble that he can work his way around because he knows it, and he understands its fundamentals.

Field Day stands as one of the best albums I've ever listened to and with that, it's setting a pretty tall expectation for Marshall Crenshaw's third album, 1985's Downtown. And with that, I expect to hear someone who's gotten better at being Marshall Crenshaw.

Radio Free Pop's Rating for Field Day: Four Vinyls & A Single out of Five (aka: 4.5/5)