Gomez Bring It On - Local Lads With A Lot To Say

I was visiting a mate who I was playing in a band with at the time, and he lived right by a huge Tesco store that had very recently turned 24 hour. We decided to walk down there late one night and check out the records, and I had this strange compulsion to buy this unusual looking album on the shelf. Something about the artwork seemed to swallow me whole. The album was Bring It On by Gomez, and I had no idea at the time how odd this compulsion would turn out to be. Buying it purely on instinct, I had no idea that I was paying for a record from a band hailing from my own home town, Southport, and I had no idea that the guys in Gomez had attended the same college where I was currently studying at the time. I had even less idea that this would become one of my favourite records. Sometimes you've just got to trust that gut feeling and ride with it.

The strength of this brilliant debut can be measured by the fact that it won the 1998 Mercury Music Prize for Album Of The Year, beating off contenders such as Urban Hymns by The Verve (previously blogged) and Mezzanine by Massive Attack. Spin Magazine called it "a damn beautiful album, and it went Platinum in the U.K almost immediately. Gomez have been hailed as The Beatles' spiritual heirs, combining American Blues, Jazz, Grass-Roots, R&B and warm, harmonious melodies. I saw the boys back in 1999 at Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre, where, funnily enough, Gomez were supported by a little known band called Coldplay. It was a great gig that demonstrated the depth to this unique line-up of musicians.

The album begins with the russet tones of Get Miles, a captivating progression through their Americana influences. Whippin' Piccadilly is a jaunty and truly British tune which, whilst appealing to a slightly more commercial faction, also shows the songwriting diversity within the group. Make No Sound is folksy and brilliantly minimalist, 78 Stone Wobble a febrile two-step with a killer hook, and Tijuana Lady, the immense album highlight, a moody and mournful but thoroughly engrossing epic. Other highlights include the fascinating Love Is Better Than A Warm Trombone, the clumsy but endearing Bubble Gum Years, and the groovy, driving Rock of Get Myself Arrested. Here Comes The Breeze is a kind of sonic, mutated Blues, Free To Run a Country soaked ramble, and Rie's Wagon something straight off a mysterious Spaghetti Western.

This is not a band that were ever going to attack the charts with any venom. This is a band that operate underground, on a cult basis, and will continue to do so for as long as they wish. Their music is enduring, and this album, a cracking debut, a glowing representation of their immense talents. You don't win The Mercury Music Award without causing a stir. You don't make a record like Bring It On without being inspired. Check it out.