Gomez: In Our Gun : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

There are all sorts of quirky little noises in Gomez's delightfully eccentric fourth album: electronic gurgles, hiccups and hisses, savage drum-machine beats that explode from within melancholy ballads, and the kind of retro, shimmering textures that would make Pink Floyd proud. Yes, the five-piece British band has mastered the art of the recording studio, and this self-produced effort boasts the breathless enthusiasm of someone who's finally learned a difficult craft. Fortunately, there's plenty of soul beneath the multilayered structures and aesthetic braggadocio, from the psychedelic "Rex Kramer" to the unabashedly romantic "Sound of Sounds." This being Gomez, there's the occasional stretch of weirdness for the sake of weirdness (the vintage-keyboard effect that launches "Ruff Stuff" is definitely clunky). But the songwriting is focused, the solemn moments strangely affecting and Ben Ottewell's gruff vocals reassuringly passionate. Surprisingly, for a band that has always managed to evoke the laid-back charm of a bunch of aging bluesmen, Gomez have never sounded so youthful.

ERNESTO LECHNER
(RS 897 - June 6, 2002)