Ocean Colour Scene: Mechanical Wonder : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Ocean Colour Scene's first official U.S. release since 1996's Moseley Shoals, Mechanical Wonder finds the British quartet stubbornly sticking to their steady diet of Traffic, the Who, Small Faces and the more sentimental bits of Mott The Hoople. Like Oasis without the 'tude -- or Paul Weller without the pinched grimace -- the members of OCS obviously fancy themselves as faithful torch-bearers of Classic Rock, U.K. Style. The amazing thing is that, on "Up On The Downside," "In My Field" and the wistful title track, the band's combination of skilled musicianship and almost painful sincerity actually leaves a mark, instead of boring you to tears like the latter-day outings of Clapton, Winwood, et al. A solid and occasionally excellent effort, Mechanical Wonder is probably way too unfashionable to attract much of a Stateside audience, but it'll definitely give longtime OCS fans ample reason to rev up their scooters. (DAN EPSTEIN - May 1, 2001)