Review: Gomez

gomez
Gomez
““In Our Gun””
(Virgin)

Back in 1998 I was a huge fan of NME, which is a British magazine with a great outlook on the UK music scene.  Most of the bands that they “Jock” in that magazine I tend to pick up and give a spin because I trust their judgment.  Back then there was this big hype about Gomez and I decided to check out their first release “Bring It On.”  I gave that disk three or four honest spins and just couldn’t understand what the big deal was.  I guess at that point my musical influences just didn’t encompass blues and funk with twists of metal and alternative.  I even tried to give “Bring It On” to my friend because I thought he would like it more than me.  I knew Gomez was good music, but it just wasn’t my style.  However, my friend is a stoner that smokes about an eighth a day.   Due to his lack of motivation he never even tried the disc!  I took the disc back after about six months and let it rot at my house instead of his.

“In Or Gun” is a very good disc, but this disc sounds startlingly similar to their first disc.  This band has three singers that do lead vocals on different tracks and all of them have sweet bluesy voices that listeners will instantly identify with.  Most of the guitars are acoustic, clean electric or have a cosmic effect making them classic Gomez.  The difference for me between “Bring It On” and “In Our Gun” (I never heard “Liquid Skin”) is that I like the groove and funk sound now.  To be truthful, Gomez has created a sound that is all their own and immediately identifiable.  All types of music have some sort of ascetic value including bands like Gomez.  I will not struggle to let this disc come out of my player after months of being in there, but I will pop it in every once in a while.