Album: “In Our Gun”

Description

Gomez: Ian Ball, Paul Blackburn, Tom Gray, Ben Ottewell, Olly Peacock. <p>Additional personnel: Grace Elison (vocals); Tony Looby (alto & baritone saxophones); Rob Charles (tenor & baritone saxophones); Tony Robinson (trumpet, trombone, valve trombone, brass, organ); Dajon Everette (celeste, percussion); Danny Thompson (double bass); Graham Wakefield (samples). <p>British darlings Gomez first came to public attention in the late '90s with their combination of contemporary Britpop and '60s psychedelic rock. To be fair to this quite modern band, a slight resemblance to the odd Traffic tune was about the extent of their flirtation with psychedelia. IN OUR GUN seems to find Gomez moving further away from those '60s roots without abandoning them altogether. Burbling synthesizers rub shoulders with jangling acoustic guitars, and Radiohead jostles with the Beatles for the reigning vocal influence. While there are a couple of stray Middle-Easternisms and other remnants of hippiedom to be found here, IN OUR GUN is more akin to the way the Beta Band channels those same spirits via modern electronica. Like Coldplay or Brits manque Smash Mouth, Gomez sounds like they've got just enough of their parents' records in their collection to maintain a sense of history without leaving Britpop's borders too far behind.