These guys kick off their shoes and this power pop-filled self-titled CD off with a bang: "Girlfriend" is simply a fun and rowdy song filled with attitude. There’s something trashy and Replacements about this track. I don’t look forward to the abrupt ending, because I just don’t want it to end. And if your girlfriend really is a hooker, so be it, the song’s great. Track 3, "Maria", screams The Beach Boys-take-the Beatles-surfing. This is truly another great song. You’re not going to work without replaying the chorus to this sad "summertime’s over" song in your head, folks. I dare you. Vocally, it’s like someone forced the melancholy Southern California band Pinback to admit they were having fun. "I don’t want to spend summertime in the rain" either, fellas. Who does? I’ve got to tell you, though, I really wanna hear that breakdown (about one-minute 15-seconds into the song) about the "little things" again.

It’s clear these guys have fun and on many songs, they do not take themselves too seriously. It’s catchy stuff. It’s upbeat. There’s something somewhat Brit-pop (Travis/Kinks) about these guys, as if The Jam lived in Southern California for a stretch. I hear a little of the better (but not so popular) Pinkerton Weezer on songs like "My Shoes".

The diversity of the songs on the record is one of the things I like most about this CD. Track 4, "Bargain Shopper", shows a weirder, edgier Wall of Voodoo side of the band. The multi-vocal choruses give these guys a "sound" that seems so important to have these days. This CD takes you for a ride, beginning with up-tempo trashy songs then slowing down for a couple of tracks in the middle of the CD and again towards the end. It’s obvious that the songs mature as the CD plays on. Either way, these guys have fun. You can hear it and you have no choice but to feel it.

On track 7, "All These Guns", the band gets a little trippy. Mike or Eddie (I don’t know which) gets a little Perry Farrell on us vocally, which is very cool. On the CD as a whole, I’d like to hear less "windex" on the vocals. I guess that could go for Perry too, eh? Some songs make me imagine what would happen if the Presidents of the United States of America took music lessons from Cheap Trick and Modest Mouse. Track 9, "Sit Down", (and maybe some others) remind me a bit of another Southern California band called Convoy.

Let it be known, in this case, that all of these comparisons are compliments. I love every band named above. And now I love Hamilton Field. I like every song on this record. "Whatever Happened" is a standout. Again, fun and its subject matter deals with something everyone at one time or another wonders about… Elvis’s whereabouts. Plausible theory too. Check it out for yourself. You can’t burn it from me, though. Go to www.hamiltonfieldmusic.com and buy your own copy. These guys offer fun-filled power pop and melodic rock that really kicks the self-important whining bands of today in the ass. Solid playing and great writing all around this CD. Nice job, guys. I dig it.

Merely my opinion: File under "'70s British Beach Rock"??? - at times, The Beach Boys meet Travis and the Jam while Cheap Trick meets up with The Presidents of the United States of America drinking with Modest Mouse at your favorite summertime bar. Wash down a shot of tequila with a Hefeweizen while you enjoy these guys.

http://hamiltonfieldmusic.com/