Album: Bring It On
One of Gomez's unique characteristics as a band was having three singer / songwriters in Ben Ottewell, Ian Ball and Tom Gray. Ottlewell's bluesy growl is particularly distinctive and blends to great effect with the softer tones of Ball and Gray. The harmonies on Whippin' Piccadilly and throughout the album are one of my favourite aspects of the music, along with the murky electronic sound effects and the modern take on the Delta blues. In this respect, Bring It On has a timeless quality, introducing the blues to a new generation unaware of its far-reaching influence. 78 Stone Wobble is one of many highlights, combining a blues boogie with jazz-style drumming, saxophone blasts and clever use of sampling ("Sean Connery or Steve McQueen"). Tijuana Lady has a wonderful spaced out acoustic sound and acts as a similar centrepiece to We Haven't Turned Around on Gomez's follow-up album, Liquid Skin (1999). Here Comes The Breeze and Get Myself Arrested are two other highlights of Bring It On, while Free To Run has a ragged glory reminiscent of Neil Young and is one of the most obvious tributes to Americana. Rie's Wagon makes for an unfocused end to the album, and it was this shambolic approach and the band's unwillingness to cosy up to the British music press that partly prevented Gomez ever achieving greater success. Liquid Skin has some great songs and slick production, but Bring It On remains the band's crowning glory.
Artist: Gomez
Born: Southport, Merseyside
Released: April 1998
Genre: Psychedelic Americana
In the late 90s, it seems there was a trend for albums to be a little bloated, with The Verve, Bob Dylan and Spiritualized all releasing 1hr+ records in 1997. Gomez's Bring It On lasts almost an hour and, although some songs do tend to ramble a little, that only adds to the album's glorious ramshackle feel. Near the end of the 20th century, there was a growing sense of freedom in a lot of popular music, with less restrictions on time (hence the lengthy CDs) and space (the theme of space travel crops up often). Opening track Get Miles Away ("Gonna leave this planet man, gonna head to the galaxy") is a call to escape everyday life, including some unsubtle drug references. What marks Gomez out from the crowd is their attempt to blend two musical styles, Britpop and Americana, to create a very unique sound. This originality partly explains why Bring It On won the 1998 Mercury Prize against strong contenders like Pulp's This Is Hardcore, Cornershop's When I Was Born For The 7th Time and Massive Attack's Mezzanine. Few bands were looking to the blues as a source of inspiration in the 90s (Black Crowes being one obvious exception), while country rock pioneers Wilco were also an influence on Gomez. The band combined this American roots sound with British psychedelia, notably the bagginess of the Stone Roses and Spiritualized's spaced out vibe. Whippin' Piccadilly was the most successful of the three singles and helped Bring It On peak at No.11 in the UK album charts. The youthful abandon of the lyrics ("Played a bit of football, fell in to the union") really chimed with my life in 1998 and, with friends studying at Sheffield University where Gomez formed, I got to see the buzz around the band first hand.
In the late 90s, it seems there was a trend for albums to be a little bloated, with The Verve, Bob Dylan and Spiritualized all releasing 1hr+ records in 1997. Gomez's Bring It On lasts almost an hour and, although some songs do tend to ramble a little, that only adds to the album's glorious ramshackle feel. Near the end of the 20th century, there was a growing sense of freedom in a lot of popular music, with less restrictions on time (hence the lengthy CDs) and space (the theme of space travel crops up often). Opening track Get Miles Away ("Gonna leave this planet man, gonna head to the galaxy") is a call to escape everyday life, including some unsubtle drug references. What marks Gomez out from the crowd is their attempt to blend two musical styles, Britpop and Americana, to create a very unique sound. This originality partly explains why Bring It On won the 1998 Mercury Prize against strong contenders like Pulp's This Is Hardcore, Cornershop's When I Was Born For The 7th Time and Massive Attack's Mezzanine. Few bands were looking to the blues as a source of inspiration in the 90s (Black Crowes being one obvious exception), while country rock pioneers Wilco were also an influence on Gomez. The band combined this American roots sound with British psychedelia, notably the bagginess of the Stone Roses and Spiritualized's spaced out vibe. Whippin' Piccadilly was the most successful of the three singles and helped Bring It On peak at No.11 in the UK album charts. The youthful abandon of the lyrics ("Played a bit of football, fell in to the union") really chimed with my life in 1998 and, with friends studying at Sheffield University where Gomez formed, I got to see the buzz around the band first hand.
One of Gomez's unique characteristics as a band was having three singer / songwriters in Ben Ottewell, Ian Ball and Tom Gray. Ottlewell's bluesy growl is particularly distinctive and blends to great effect with the softer tones of Ball and Gray. The harmonies on Whippin' Piccadilly and throughout the album are one of my favourite aspects of the music, along with the murky electronic sound effects and the modern take on the Delta blues. In this respect, Bring It On has a timeless quality, introducing the blues to a new generation unaware of its far-reaching influence. 78 Stone Wobble is one of many highlights, combining a blues boogie with jazz-style drumming, saxophone blasts and clever use of sampling ("Sean Connery or Steve McQueen"). Tijuana Lady has a wonderful spaced out acoustic sound and acts as a similar centrepiece to We Haven't Turned Around on Gomez's follow-up album, Liquid Skin (1999). Here Comes The Breeze and Get Myself Arrested are two other highlights of Bring It On, while Free To Run has a ragged glory reminiscent of Neil Young and is one of the most obvious tributes to Americana. Rie's Wagon makes for an unfocused end to the album, and it was this shambolic approach and the band's unwillingness to cosy up to the British music press that partly prevented Gomez ever achieving greater success. Liquid Skin has some great songs and slick production, but Bring It On remains the band's crowning glory.
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