Gomez: Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Odds 'n' sods collections rarely have a favorable ratio of unearthed revelations to throwaway tunes -- even for critically acclaimed, British, neotraditionalist, jammy rock bands with gloriously raspy singers. The mighty Gomez -- who charmed their home country out of the 1998 Mercury Prize with Bring It On and went all eclectic the next year on Liquid Skin -- are no exception. Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline is filled with BBC sessions, toss-offs (two of which are called "Shitbag") and a few gems, including the pleasantly rambling "Buena Vista" and their Faces-like cover of the Beatles' "Getting Better," which you may remember from that Philips Electronics ad. The first 50,000 copies include the formerly import-only "Machismo" EP, complete with the catchy ballad "Touchin' Up," on which vocalist Ben Ottewell couldn't sound more Vedder if he tried, and the thirteen-minute "The Dajon Song," which could turn into their "Cortez the Killer" in a live setting. Of course, that's true for most Gomez tunes. (RS 853)

JOE GROSS