ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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Ocean Colour Scene
SATURDAY COOKING VINYL 25.1.10 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk
Nothing makes you feel like you’re getting old like a band you loved in your youth announcing a milestone anniversary. So it is that OCS have been together for 21 years and are releasing their 9th studio album. It doesn’t feel like yesterday since Moseley Shoals… Coincidentally, “Saturday” feels like the band have returned to their roots. The general feel of the album is one of a Beatles-esque collection of stories, only these are more rooted in modern life, with allusions to the Credit Crunch amongst other modern themes. The album begins with “100 Floors of Perception”, with its opening line of ‘Hundred Mile High City / falling to the floor’ nodding to both the band’s and the UK’s heyday of the mid-to-late 90s. It clearly stamps the band’s style, with Simon Fowler’s distinctive vocals leading the way. Later on, we return to this theme with the album’s first single, “Magic Carpet Days”, which is Ocean Colour Scene through-and-through, and will be perfect for summer days in the country. This shows that there can be light at the end of the dark times the country’s going through right now – and is catchy as hell! Title track “Saturday” is a prime example of the sound that OCS made themselves noticed by. With the use of brass and memorable vocals, it would be of no great surprise if this became a festival favourite over the summer. “Mrs Maylie” is a heavier, foot-stomping affair, but suffers from the downside that it sounds a lot like they’re singing about Mrs Madeley, so everything gets distorted by visions of Richard and Judy… Aside from having a name like another contemporary celebrity, “Harry Kidnap” is a slow, brooding eulogy that shines with regret and remorse without being depressing. “Sing Children Sing” is a fairytale reimagined in modern Indie and will surely be used as backing to some form of BBC achievement montage. As with so many of the band’s tracks, this is strong for the art of its storytelling as much as for the music. “Old Pair Of Jeans” ventures into swing and includes the fantastic metaphor ‘I wish you didn’t get hung up so easily’ I’m still undecided as to whether “Village Life” is a happy song or not. For, while it speaks of inclusion (‘Village life / everybody knows the wife / knows how many pints you like / and where you park the bike at night’), the vocals sound like they’re trying to conceal darker undertones – which are alluded to later in the song. “What’s Mine Is Yours” is the closest we get to a Beatles track, to the extent that Fowler’s usual distinctive vocal tone sounds more like Lennon than his own. Album closer “Rockfield”, an ode to the studio in which this album was recorded, evokes The Who with its drumbeat and lead guitar in the style of Pete Townsend. In short, “Saturday” is a return to form for OCS. The tracks are varied, while maintaining the band’s distinctive sound, and there are more than enough potential singles in here should they wish to keep releasing them. On the back of success at festivals last year, this album should bring the band back into the limelight and make 2010 their most successful year for a long time. www.oceancolourscene.com |
