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Bring It On - Gomez


Released: 1998

Label: Hut Records

When I bought: 1998

In 1998, The Verve could do no wrong. Urban Hymns had dominated the zeitgeist, Richard Ashcroft was the very definition of cool, and seemingly everyone wanted to parody the 'Bittersweet Symphony' video.

Nailed on for that year's Mercury Music Prize, surely?

Indeed not. Instead, another group of northern young men with guitars walked away with the gong, and a cheque for £25,000.

Gomez hailed from Southport, played their first gig in Leeds, and signed to Hut Records (a subsidiary of Virgin Records) in 1997.

Their debut album, 'Bring It On' came out in March 1998, but it's fair to say it didn't set the world on fire. The Mercury Music Prize win - which came a year to the day of signing their record deal - gave the album a burst of publicity and sales.

I bought the record off the back of that win, but was so deep in my Britpop phase I didn't really connect with it. So that was that. I didn't listen to it again.

It has sat on various shelves in various student digs, house shares, warehouses ever since. Ignored, but constant.

What a fool I've been. This is a great record. A mixture of blues, roots rock, a smattering of electronic layers in places, dense harmonies, and great musicianship.

Like all the best albums, it still has a contemporary feel. The production and mixing is far warmer than a lot of late-90s records, which opted for the brick wall approach of Oasis.

There's so much to love about this record. Yes, you have to get past the fact that its made by a bunch of young lads from Southport who are trying to sound like they are weary troubadours from the Deep South. But once you've suspended your disbelief, it's great.

'Get Myself Arrested' is a brilliant tune, and shows the band are totally in on the joke. The funky bass at the start conjures up the theme to a 70s cop show, and the track even has applause at the end in a sign of how pleased the band are with themselves.

'Tijuana Lady' starts off with a faint shaky acoustic guitar, then turns into the most beautiful love song. 

Had these kids from Southport ever fallen in love with a Mexican woman while they lived in San Diego wearing ponchos? I doubt it, but this song gives a damn good job of convincing me they did.

'Whippin' Piccadilly' is the the song I remember from back in the day, and it still sounds great. I think actually this song is pretty unrepresentative of the rest of the album, which is a lot more bluesy and rootsy than this tune.

'Free To Run' sounds like a tune from Creedence Clearwater Revival, while 'Bubble Gum Years' has full on Beatles backing vocals.

'Rie's Wagon' is a nine-minute long full-on mid tempo blues rock tune that includes a raucous jam in the middle, while 'Love Is Better Than A Warm Trombone' is equally as full of swagger. 

I loved listening to this. I feel like the more I go back to it, the more I'm going to get from it.

Thanks for sticking around on the shelf.

8/10



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