Let’s start with a sad truth: Sense Field’s prolific and ridiculously talented vocalist Jon Bunch left this world in 2016, and he will be forever missed. Bunch’s voice is paramount in the mid-’90s post-hardcore/emo/indie/whatever you want to call it world, he gave us a reason to believe that transparent sensitivity can create incredible art, and the band’s five albums are all classics because of such. The band’s career was quite frenetic in that they signed with NYHC staple label Revelation Records, also then home to hardcore legends Gorilla Biscuits, Judge, Youth of Today, and of course, Good Charlotte, released three back-to-back-to-back classic LPs on said label, signed with major label Warner Bros. Records and sat in a limbo to end all limbos there, and released their final two studio albums via Canadian label Nettwerk Records, and disbanded in 2004. Feel what you feel.
5. Living Outside (2003)
Although “Living Outside,” Sense Field’s fifth and final studio album is better than most band’s LPs in ANY genre, one record had to be listed last here, and we know, we know, we’re wrong about this and everything else we write below and moving forward for the rest of our sordid lives tonight and forever. The band went out with a bang here with “Living Outside” as said LP was their only Billboard charting record and debuted at #37 on U.S. Heatseakers, which is no small feat or pair of shoes. Sadly the band split just one year after this album was released, and sporadically reunited several times until Bunch’s untimely passing. Thankfully, Jon wasn’t done singing, as he eventually joined Further Seems Forever as their six-hundred-and-sixty-sixth vocalist before they disbanded in 2005, and fronted an underrated and rocking act called War Generation.
Play it again: “Burn”
Skip it: “Memory”
4. Tonight and Forever (2001)
“Save Yourself,” which is by far Sense Field’s biggest “hit” single, is likely why you’re here unless you’re punker than a rock, and reason enough for this record to not be in the dreaded bottom slot. “Tonight and Forever” asks its listeners two questions: 1) Are you ok? 2) Am I a fool? The simple one-word answers are obvious on your end: 1) No. 2) Yes. “Save Yourself” provided the band the opportunity to perform on late-night shows like “The Tonight Show,” “The Late Late Show,” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” but that might of actually been a fever dream we had when we stayed home from school. The record precludes a haunted memory regarding Sense Field’s future, and sadly the fun never starts again, but you’ve got to be strong. In closing, 2001 was quite a year for acts in SF’s sphere, as Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Thursday, and Boston all released groundbreaking records then.
Play it again: “Save Yourself”
Skip it: “Waiting for Something”
3. Self-Titled (1994)
While not a straight up punk rock record per se, Sense Field is still in said rock world, and released their debut self-titled LP to an aggressive sea of mainstream punk or “punk” if you’re feeling nasty/frisky/freaky/magical albums like Green Day’s blockbuster “Dookie,” The Offspring’s highly successful “Smash,” Bad Religion’s harmonious “Stranger Than Fiction,” and Sade’s compilation to end all compilations known as “The Best of Sade”; your love is king, as a smooth operator is much more than a smooth criminal but not as smooth as a smoothie from Erewhon. Containing a lot of one-word song titles like “Dreams,” “Sage,” “Soft,” and “Pizza,” Sense Field set the stage for one-word responses to said songs like, “rad,” “sad,” “mad,” and “Vlad(imir)”. Even though many SF shows don’t have public setlists , a quick search shows that another one-word title, “Voice,” was a favorite.
Play it again: “Voice”
Skip it: “Greater Than”
2. Killed For Less (1994)
After their breakout self-titled debut, Sense Field released their sophomore follow-up LP that same year called “Killed For Less,” and it’s where the band truly came into their own and into another. Opening said record with “Today And Tomorrow,” easily a top ten SF song, was a solid choice, as both old heads and new listeners of the band alike seemed to be drawn into a feeling of goodloveall, thus becoming super fans… And don’t get us started on the simple yet effective opening riff and “scream” for track two, Linkin Park’s “Hybrid Theory” opener known as “Papercut.” Also, like the album before it, there are many one-word song titles featured on “Killed For Less,” and said stat truly gets highlighted with tracks six through nine being called: “Futon,” “Voice,” “Soft,” and “Allyouneedisloveloveisallyouneed”. Now we’re building towards the end, and everyone we see will agree, or won’t.
Play it again: “Today And Tomorrow”
Skip it: “One from the Other Side”
1. Building (1996)
Reason to believe: We’re here at the top of the world, you and I, and said roof has no “skip it” tracks. Sense Field’s third record “Building” took many by storm, but we theorize that it would’ve been so much bigger if it came out when its follow-up was released. Still, we hope this album’s legacy remains strong and outlives all men/women/human beings/cockroaches. As stated above, the world still cries for vocalist Jon Bunch, and if you were lucky enough to attend the benefit shows for Jon’s son Jack on one or both coasts, it must’ve been a sight unseen any day prior, as bands like Rocket From The Crypt, Texas Is The Reason, Knapsack, and Debbie Gibson performed, and many singers guested on lead vocals with the remaining members of Sense Field.
Play it again: “Overstand” till you can’t stand
Skip it: Destruction