Leverage Models

Shannon Fields didn’t disappear so much as escape: In 2007, his band of nearly a decade, a large and quixotic collective of sound benders named Stars Like Fleas, released its third album, The Ken Burns Effect. The record, like its predecessors, was a tremendous tangle of possibilities. The tender coos of folk songs abutted generous passages of abstruse misdirection, putting Stars Like Fleas not among the moment’s freak-folk horde but in a more rarified and truly exploratory realm. The Ken Burns Effect demanded a next step, new music that took any number of Stars Like Fleas’ dozens of implied influences in more definitive directions. “I’m pretty good at making myself uncomfortable,” Fields had said in an interview while the record was being made, “and am always trying to make the people around me uncomfortable.” Yet you wanted Stars Like Fleas to get a little bit comfortable, to settle in and let the inchoate nature of its music solidify just a tad.

But that never happened. Stars Like Fleas imploded just before finishing its next album, and its components have since scattered in enough directions to give new credence to the band name. Fields headed north to a small farm near Cooperstown, N.Y., to take a break from New York City and to try and build something of his own. After two years of digital EPs, singles, covers and compilation contributions, Fields has finally emerged with the self-titled debut LP Leverage Models, a solo endeavor fortified by a dozen friends and a dance record that might pad some expectations of that phrase. Though Stars Like Fleas never had its chance to settle, Fields did. The result is a propulsive but ponderous 10-track wonder that hits all of the pleasure centers—that is, you will dance and sing—while offering a supple-enough sound to become something of a headphone symphony, not unlike the more recent works of Matthew Dear. Leverage Models, then, makes a mostly clean break with Fields’ past but, yet again, extends an enticing arrow toward his future.

These concise and swift songs key on heaps of synthesizers, electronic drums and manipulated vocals woven into crisscrossing patterns. Consider his breathless lead vocals during the anxious “Night Falls on the General Assembly” or his italicized verses during lead single “Cooperative Extensions”: Fields is clearly the star here. But Leverage Models is more generous than a solo production made in the bedroom of an isolated farmhouse. Slap-bass bubbles from the cracks beneath verses and choruses of that first track. A saxophone squiggles out of the bridge during “The Chance to Go.” Sharon Van Etten provides the unleavened, plaintive voice onto the tragic hero for “Sweep". Indeed, though this is Fields’ project and his harbor, the massed-ensemble approach of Stars Like Fleas remains; more than a dozen musicians contributed to Leverage Models, from Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn to classical violinist Jim Altieri.

Such an esteemed cast gives Fields a wide sonic palette, allowing him to fill these instant hits with all manner of layers and textures and twists. The irrepressible “Hunting Safety", for instance, swells and stops and starts again, shifting from nervy arpeggios and skittering rhythms to a wide-open, full-throated sing-along. It eventually grinds into the same noisy futuristic funk that shapes the best parts of Gayngs’ Relayted, an album that shares stylistic precedents with this one. In less than four minutes, “Out in the Open (Propositional Representations)” changes countenances a half-dozen times; one section that recalls the sprawl of Neu! abuts a span of seductive Prince-like winks. You could spend a month mapping the parts written into these three-minute tunes and still find something new on the next listen, such as the piano that traces the melody 90 seconds into “Cooperative Extensions” like a set of phantom steel drums. This is vivid and immediate music, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be intricate.

Though Leverage Models borrows the old band’s personnel approach in execution, the record’s development seems to have sat mostly with Fields. These songs seem too focused to be formed by committee, too swift and steady to be anything but bursts of ideas later repaved by a bigger band. “Night Falls on the General Assembly” is all momentum and memory, while the lifting keyboard chords and sleigh-bell jangle of “The Least of Your Brothers” is a product of pure pop concentration. Stars Like Fleas’ music was rife with references and influences, and so are these tracks. From Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and David Byrne to Gary Numan and Bill Laswell, you can hear the giants of Fields’ record collection, hopefully nodding along to his own beats. You can hear the influence of his peers and friends, too, labelmates and tourmates such as Bear in Heaven and Helado Negro. But Fields starts from these touchstones now and moves forward rather than simply folding them into his own music. That new intimacy radia - Pitchfork.com

"Infatuating" - The Village Voice

Leverage Models are mixing business with pleasure. Pulling from the colorful bullsh*t of popular industry, they've given new meaning to the bland business of deliverables and accounting in ready-made dance classics like the undeniable 'Sweep' (streaming below) off latest EP 'Cooperative Extensions.' This is world beats turned into booty-shaking dirtiness, topped off with Shannon Fields' roof-shaking falsetto. It's the kind of band worth doing business with. See them when they play Cameo Gallery Jan 31. - Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets) - Deli Magazine

I decided I was going to listen to the ‘Cooperative Extensions’ single by Leverage Models at the office; the look and make of the CD case had a very “corporate document” feel to it, and so I wanted to listen to it at work. I loaded the songs into iTunes, put on my headphones, and about a minute into the first song I wanted to turn to the person who sits at the desk next to mine, give her a big thumbs up, and just say “yeah,” while nodding vigorously. I didn’t do it, but it is the kind of polite spontaneity that this release might inspire. Containing two songs and a remix of each of them, the ‘Cooperative Extensions’ single is a reminder of the oft forgotten notion that straight-laced pop music can actually be good.

Leverage Models sounds a little like the new wave pop acts who weren’t quite as cool as New Order, but whose music is undeniably inspired, and whose big hit was being played on terrestrial radio well into the late nineties. This single is a lot more When in Rome than it is Talking Heads, but the payoff is two of the most tightly composed pop songs I’ve ever heard from a DIY act, without the unnecessary frills and unearned pretensions of acts which fancy themselves pop pioneers.

The bass on ‘Cooperative Extensions,’ played by “additional musician” Christian Fields (more on that in a tic) feels like an exceptionally satisfying punch to the head, delivered from 1982. ‘Sweep,’ with its set for the sun chorus, could be the most jubilant Cure song ever made. That Leverage Models can take such on-the-surface nods and turn them into something exciting and fresh – and that this single makes no attempt to validate pop artistically, and simply asserts that pop can be pop for pop’s sake – is something to be respected.

The only other single I’ve ever physically owned was Eiffel 65’s ‘Blue (Da Ba Dee)’, which I bought when I was ten. I never wanted to listen to another remix after that one, but here each remix seems to have been crafted with care and by artists (Zambri and Certain Creatures) who had a true affinity for the songs they were remixing. The ‘Sweep’ remix especially reminds me of really solid video game music, and is worth checking out in and of itself.

Leverage Models is, surprisingly, the work of one core member (Shannon Fields) and a shifting slew of additionals. I am legitimately interested in seeing how these songs could be reconciled into a live performance, and may attend one of their upcoming NYC shows (January 31st at Cameo Gallery or February 11th at Glasslands). For everybody else: Leverage Models suggests that pop is still worth a shot, and I’m beginning to see the poin - Dingus

“Leverage Models vocals reach out from underneath heavy drum machine beats & zapping synth lines. Haunting, almost gothic at times. This is heavy dance fuzz mania.” -- BlogTO (TORONTO, ON) - BlogTO (Toronto, ON)

“Leverage Models vocals reach out from underneath heavy drum machine beats & zapping synth lines. Haunting, almost gothic at times. This is heavy dance fuzz mania.” -- BlogTO (TORONTO, ON) - BlogTO (Toronto, ON)

“With synth timbres and insistent melodies reminiscent of Brian Eno and John Cale’s 1990 collaboration, Wrong Way Up, Leverage Models seem to be fascinated with a more direct, if no less experimental, approach to songwriting.” -- THE INDEPENDENT (RALEIGH, NC) - The Independent (Raleigh, NC)

“A lullaby sung by the sea with the subdued hysterics of of Scritti Politti…will drench you in unspecified yearning & leave you reaching for the repeat button” -- NEW MUSIC MATTERS (UK) - New Music Matters (UK)

“A lullaby sung by the sea with the subdued hysterics of of Scritti Politti…will drench you in unspecified yearning & leave you reaching for the repeat button” -- NEW MUSIC MATTERS (UK) - New Music Matters (UK)

“Having bollocked The Strokes out of it yesterday for utterly failing to crack the 80s sound, it’s nice to end the week with someone who can pull it off masterfully. As in John Hughes-soundtrack masterfully….Talk Talk-esque…deadly” -- RAGGED WORDS (UK) - Ragged Words (UK online music magazine)

“insanely brilliant” -- OOH BRILLIANT (UK) - Ooh Brilliant (UK blog)

“insanely brilliant” -- OOH BRILLIANT (UK) - Ooh Brilliant (UK blog)

"Anyone who knows Shannon Fields knows that he’s the kind of musician that’s capable of creating groundbreaking music…With Stars Like Fleas Fields ventured into some strange territory that other bands couldn’t possibly be capable of, but Stars Like Fleas were not the type of band that a wide audience would enjoy…. “Dreaming of Accidents” is ultimately a perfect pop song, but it’s more than just that.” - MECCA LECCA (BLOG) - Mecca Lecca (blog)

“Stars Like Fleas’ Shannon Fields channels hints of funk, opera, proto-punk and modern classical music through his solo act, Leverage Models.” -- THE ISTHMUS (MADISON, WI) - The Isthmus (Madison, WI)

“Stars Like Fleas’ Shannon Fields channels hints of funk, opera, proto-punk and modern classical music through his solo act, Leverage Models.” -- THE ISTHMUS (MADISON, WI) - The Isthmus (Madison, WI)

“extravagant pop” - THE DELI MAG (NYC) - The Deli Magazine (NYC)

“seriously layered, ornate, and frenzied electronic transmissions…excellent” -- THE ONION A.V. CLUB - The Onion A.V. Club

“seriously layered, ornate, and frenzied electronic transmissions…excellent” -- THE ONION A.V. CLUB - The Onion A.V. Club

“a massively catchy sound that grows on you…energizing” -- ORIGAMI VINYL (L.A.) - Origami Vinyl (LA Record Store blog)

“excellent…world-spanning pop that will do to your ears what this bright July summer sun is doing to your mood” -- PORTLAND MERCURY - Portland Mercury

“excellent…world-spanning pop that will do to your ears what this bright July summer sun is doing to your mood” -- PORTLAND MERCURY - Portland Mercury

“suddenly you realize you’ve been slowly seduced…This sucker bites hard, fangs bury deep into our subconscious and beg to you to listen again and again.” - YVYNYL - Yvynyl

“head-scratchingly brilliant” (guest podcast by Brad Laner of Medicine, Electric Company, M83) - DANGEROUS MINDS - Dangerous Minds

“head-scratchingly brilliant” (guest podcast by Brad Laner of Medicine, Electric Company, M83) - DANGEROUS MINDS - Dangerous Minds

"Rapturous bursts of bright horn-fuelled funk-pop…Great!" -- THE GUARDIAN (UK) - The Guardian

"Rapturous bursts of bright horn-fuelled funk-pop…Great!" -- THE GUARDIAN (UK) - The Guardian