The Field Mice

Template:Short description Template:Lead too short Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox musical artist The Field Mice were an English indie pop band on the independent record label Sarah Records.<ref name="Larkin90"/> Originally a two-piece but ultimately expanding to five members, they released three albums and numerous singles and EPs on the label, recorded a session for John Peel and had top 20 success in both the UK Independent singles and albums charts.

Career

The Field Mice initially formed as a duo from the south London suburb of Mitcham comprising Robert Wratten (vocals and guitar) and Michael Hiscock (bass guitar). The pair had first met in the lower sixth form at Tamworth Manor School<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as 16-year-olds, drifting apart until being reunited following a chance meeting in the Croydon branch of Our Price two years later.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The group's first single, "Emma's House", was released in November 1988, and reached number 20 in the UK Independent Chart.<ref name="Strong">Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, Template:ISBN, p. 738</ref><ref name="Lazell">Lazell, Barry (1998) Indie Hits 1980-1989, Cherry Red Books, Template:ISBN, p. 87</ref> But it was with their second single "Sensitive" that they first received significant critical attention, with the unique feat of Les Inrockuptibles naming it a unanimous single of the month among their writers,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> giving them a top-20 indie hit and with a subsequent placing in John Peel's 1989 Festive Fifty.<ref name="kip">Field Mice, Keeping It Peel, BBC, retrieved 2010-04-29</ref> Debut mini-album Snowball reached number 3 on the UK Indie Albums Chart.<ref name="Lazell" />

The original duo were joined by Harvey Williams (of Another Sunny Day) on guitar in July 1989, initially to bolster the band's live sound, the two-part The Autumn Store single set having been still recorded as a two-piece,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> with the first recorded fruits of this new line-up being the Skywriting mini-LP and the So Said Kay EP. In late 1990 the band then expanded further to include Anne Mari Davies (whose bandmate in The Purple Tulips Chris Cox handed Wratten a demo cassette and letter from her when The Field Mice supported The Wake at the University of Sheffield<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>) on vocals, keyboards and guitar, and Mark Dobson (whom the band had first met at the Camden Falcon on the occasion of Williams' live debut<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>) on drums.<ref name="Larkin90">Template:Cite book</ref> This five-piece line-up later recorded what was to be their final album (their first full-length), For Keeps.<ref name="Strong" />

Over a five-year career, the band were often dogged with the reputation of having a post-C86 indie pop, or generic Sarah Records sound, despite producing tracks with numerous styles and influences.<ref name="Larkin90" /> Early singles and even their sleeves harked back to early Factory Records bands such as New Order and The Wake, with many tracks often featuring sequencers and samples. Many of the group's recordings, notably "Triangle" and their epic seven-minute swan song, "Missing the Moon" (the second of their two Festive Fifty entries<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>), displayed a strong influence from the popular dance music of the time.<ref name="Larkin90" /> Most of the group's records were produced by Ian Catt, whose studio was in his parents' house's spare bedroom and was just around the corner from where Wratten lived.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Catt later went on to develop the pop dance sound of "Missing the Moon" further with Saint Etienne (whose second single was a cover version of the Field Mice's "Let's Kiss and Make Up").<ref name="Strong" />

Split and legacy

The Field Mice split up in 1991 after a fractious tour to promote the For Keeps album, during which, at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, Wratten announced to the rest of the band he was leaving. The following date, at Tufnell Park Dome in London, proved to be the band's final act.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Later, Wratten and Davies, who had begun a relationship during the last year of the band's existence, briefly formed Yesterday Sky with Dobson before the trio became the more synth-oriented outfit Northern Picture Library. Following the end of his relationship with Davies, Wratten went on to form Trembling Blue Stars in 1995 and then Lightning in a Twilight Hour.<ref name="Larkin90"/> Hiscock's later band The Gentle Spring released their debut album, Looking Back at the World, in 2025.

A double-album compilation of the now long-deleted Field Mice releases, Where'd You Learn to Kiss That Way?, was released in 1998 and sold more copies than any Field Mice record ever sold at the time. Their entire back catalogue was reissued on CD for the first time by LTM Recordings in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Discography

Studio albums

• Snowball (Sarah 402, 1989)
• Skywriting (Sarah 601, 1990)
• For Keeps (Sarah 607, 1991)<ref name="Larkin90"/>

Compilation albums

• Coastal (Sarah 606, 1991)
• Where'd You Learn to Kiss That Way? (Shinkansen 014, 1998)<ref name="Larkin90"/>

Singles and extended plays

• "Emma's House" (7", Sarah 012, 1988)
• "Sensitive" (7", Sarah 018, 1989)
• "I Can See Myself Alone Forever" b/w "Everything About You" (7", CAFF 2, 1989)
• "The Autumn Store Part 1" (7", Sarah 024, 1990)
• "The Autumn Store Part 2" (7", Sarah 025, 1990)
• So Said Kay (10", Sarah 038, 1990)
• "September's Not So Far Away" b/w "Between Hello and Goodbye" (7", Sarah 044, 1991)
• "Missing the Moon" (12", Sarah 057, 1991)
• "Burning World" (Loop cover) (7", BULL 4–0, 1991)

Peel session

• "Anoint"/"Sundial"/"Fresh Surroundings"/"By Degrees" (Recorded on 1 April 1990 and originally broadcast on John Peel's radio programme, on 23 April 1990 on BBC Radio 1). All four songs were written specially for this session and were not released on any of their records.

External links

• Field Mice biography - Alastair Fitchett, LTM reissue sleevenotes
• Field Mice biography - Matt Haynes co-owner of Sarah Records - Page capture taken on 16 November 2007, courtesy of Internet Archive