This was Gomez's second album, and their highest chart placing, making No 2 in the album charts. I bought it on release, after being impressed with it's Mercury Music Prize winning predecessor, Bring It On.
I haven't really listened to it much since purchase, so it's high time I was reminded why.
Straight away, there's a feeling that there is so much working against this album. There's 'second album syndrome' - where a band has years to write the first album, and a few months to write songs for the second, or uses songs considered 'not right' for the first album. Also, the 'sound' is no longer new, so it inevitably doesn't have the impact of the first album.
That's not to say this is a bad album, it isn't. Hangover opens exactly where the debut album left off, the bluesy sound familiar and welcome, while Revolutionary Kind carries on, a little more gently and a lovely song. Bring It On raises the tempo, with an anthemic chorus alongside a bluesy central section. Blue Moon Rising feels like the first departure from expectation, a compelling flowing bassline, but the song never convinces. And from hereon in, it feels like the strongest material was up front. We Haven't Turned Around is a decent enough ballad, but that's not what I'd buy a Gomez album for, and California is a powerful little rocker, coming before final track Devil Will Ride, while a decent enough song doesn't hold the attention for a seven minute finale.
So, while there's plenty to enjoy in this album, and nothing that's awful, it doesn't feel overall as strong as the debut album.
3* - a decent enough listen without matching the quality of their debut album
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