It may seem a strange place to start a classic album series but rediscovering Bring It On by Gomez brought about this idea. In hindsight maybe it better be called ‘nostalgia corner’ or ‘soundtrack to my life’ but the point is the albums may not be widely considered classics they are as influential on a personal level as the greats that everyone will agree on.

The enjoyment from listening for the first time in a long time to an old favourite is incomparable, so let this series begin with Bring It On by Gomez.

Southport bred Gomez in the late nineties hit the lofty heights of three UK hit records, toured the US, where they are actually more successful and met the fall back down to earth with reunion tours to escape crummy jobs in the local supermarket.

When Bring It On arrived in 1998 the country was awash in a post-Britpop apocalypse. Tony Blair was fresh in power and Ttianic won 11 oscars. The world was strange and topsy turvy place. Somewhere between a seaside town north of Liverpool and Sheffield university four guys were not quite prepared to shake the world.

Bring It On, Gomez’s debut album was recorded, supposedly, on a four track cassette recorder but in truth these demos were the original blueprints for the album recorded in 1997 in Merseyside bedrooms using a Roland SP-202 featured in the video for Whippin’ Piccaddily.

The rasping yet gentle vocal of Ben Ottewell meant Gomez had something not every other band were able to offer. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Nick Drake aside, there are few voices that sound like stones eroding under the waves; smoothing, scraping yet natural.

The second single from Bring It On Whippin’ Piccadilly, an upbeat acoustic track laden with progressive effects, the story of a day trip to Manchester put Gomez top of the pops. However big an alt-classic this track may have been it only reached #45 in the UK charts.

From the etheraeal opening Get Miles to the poptastic Whippin’ Piccadilly the story develops. The theme of travel is a consistent one, from Manchester to Tijuana. Get Myself Arrested and Bubblegum Years showed Gomez’s ability to nail the melody but in their more intelligent structural moments of Free To Run they were able to orchestrate an almost divine transcendency. The nine minute reggae enthused folk jam of Rie’s Wagon showing just how far the band could take their spaced out recordings in the home studio, Gomez’s area of excellence.

An album without a weak track is worthy of a Mercury Music Prize nomination and it may surprise some to recall this was 98′s winner of the coveted award. Gomez partly contributing to the now rubbished ‘curse’ of the prize. Gomez may never hit the heights of the Oasis’, Blur’s or even the Suede’s but a career dreams are made of lay before this young band with their debut album release.

Those of you who remember this late nineties period as a proud and summery time when Gomez ruled without fear; Dig It Out, Stick It In and Bring It On!

Other Links

Listen to Bring It On by Gomez on spotify

Short interview and Whippin’ Picadilly” live

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