The Field Mice were an English indie pop band on the independent record label Sarah Records. as 16-year-olds, drifting apart until being reunited following a chance meeting in the Croydon branch of Our Price two years later. Wratten and Hiscock were initially inspired by post-punk bands including Joy Division, New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen.

The group's first single, "Emma's House", was released in November 1988, and reached number 20 in the UK Independent Chart. But it was with their second single "Sensitive" that they first received significant critical attention, with the unique feat of Les Inrockuptibles naming it a unanimous single of the month among their writers, giving them a top-20 indie hit and with a subsequent placing in John Peel's 1989 Festive Fifty. Debut mini-album Snowball reached number 3 on the UK Indie Albums Chart. with the first recorded fruits of this new line-up being the Skywriting mini-LP and the So Said Kay EP. Williams was less entrenched in the group's established post-punk influences; he introduced Wratten to the Beach Boys' catalogue, and the pair further bonded over shared inspirations such as Kraftwerk, OMD and the Jam. on vocals, keyboards and guitar, and Mark Dobson (whom the band had first met at the Camden Falcon on the occasion of Williams' live debut) on drums. This five-piece line-up later recorded what was to be their final album, For Keeps. displayed a strong influence from the popular dance music of the time. Catt later went on to develop the pop dance sound of "Missing the Moon" further with Saint Etienne (whose second single was a cover version of the Field Mice's "Let's Kiss and Make Up").

Later, Wratten and Davies, who had begun a relationship during the last year of the band's existence, briefly formed Yesterday Sky with Dobson before the trio became the more synth-oriented outfit Northern Picture Library. Following the end of his relationship with Davies, Wratten went on to form Trembling Blue Stars in 1995 and then Lightning in a Twilight Hour.

Discography

;Studio albums

  • Snowball (Sarah 402, 1989)
  • Skywriting (Sarah 601, 1990)
  • For Keeps (Sarah 607, 1991)