The Mass Ordinary or Don’t Come Unwound Maker is the debut release from Chicago based project The Field Auxiliary, and recently made its debut on the World Wide Web this past week. Though an “official” release show is still in the works, the album is up for purchase through CD Baby, iTunes, and Rhapsody, as well as streaming on the bands facebook for a limited time.
An expansive blend of various influences and approaches to the creative process, The Field Auxiliary evolved from what was originally a solo project of frontman Dan Smart. Smart’s life long obsession of “taking simple structure and kind of cracking them open to let a little bit of the oddness out.” is very apparent in the musical styling of this project, now a full band, as it sets foot in multiple camps, reaching out to genres all across the board.
The Mass Ordinary or Don’t Come Unwound Maker is comprised of 13 tracks, some feeding into one another while others come completely out of left field. That isn’t to say that this album lacks cohesion or comes across jumbled- this is simply a formation of songs that don’t follow any typical formation.
Starting off with an oaky and unbridled folk feel in ‘The Gospel According To All Our Mothers’ the listener is jolted out of their temporary feeling of serenity as the Muse-esque (ala Black Holes and Revelations) intro of ‘Revel in Rot’ takes over and offers us a collection of horns, subtle hi-hat, and rhythmic sticks as it’s percussion. Giving off an air of a slightly more simplistic Polyphonic Spree, our track smoothly transitions into the next. Now creating a medley to connect it to the Silverchair-in-it’s-most-recent-Young Modern-days sound that ‘I Reckon/Acceleration Due to Gravity’ brings. 
Moving on, we continue to get a slew of different styles throughout the album, from ‘We Aren’t Famous’ and ‘Broke’ with their Everclear indie rock sound, to the slower, music box inspired ‘The Perils of Invisible Man’. Even more so The Mass Ordinary or Don’t Come Unwound Maker diverges from its former style and throws ‘Jump Ship’ the listeners way, which has a raucous double bass and good ol’ fashioned gritty Brit Punk vocals in it’s arsenal.
One of our favorite moments in this record was the connection between ‘Waltz: Grudge, Fury & Elocutioner’ and ‘Art Sale’, the former of which’s spacey instrumentals play off like a run down carnival, giving a creepy, eerie vibe we feel wouldn’t be misplaced as support for an Elliott Smith song. The latter of the two comes out of the tinkling end of the first with an acoustic; it’s tone giving off a certain feeling of rising from the rubble of something. We love the way this song builds and fills itself out, both instrumentally and vocally- kudos to Smart and the rest of The Field Auxiliary are definitely called for.
Though overall we support the range and exploration shown in this album, we do have to admit that at moments it starts to feel scattered. ‘Shame’s Voice (Needless)’, the ending track, was not a favorite, and we definitely hoped for something a little more powerful and emotive to end this collection of songs.
All in all, The Mass Ordinary or Don’t Come Unwound Maker is an interesting album to say the least. It wins our hearts for taking the step to try something new and work with so many manipulations of sound. We’re very curious to see what else The Field Auxiliary brings our way
