Seven years before Belle & Sebastian hypnotized us with its tender baroque pop, legendary Sarah Records artist, The Field Mice melted our hearts with its saccharine sweet twee stylings. Frontman, Bobby Wratten founded the band in a South London suburb, Mitcham and shared his wispy wussy side of break-ups and old loves gone awary with songs like "This Love is Not Wrong" and "Emma's House." The sound falling somewhere between mid-80s New Order and late-Smiths ala "Girlfriend in a Coma", lyrically derivative of miserable Morrissey's romances unreckoned. Three albums in a little over three years, not bad for this treasured pop band, but the complete works, Where'd You Learn to Kiss That Way? is all a listener needs. The Field Mice later went on to form the more ambient-electronic band, The Northern Picture Library and more recently a return to cuddlecore form, The Trembling Blue Stars. Here are a few standouts from their 36 song anthology.
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