Record Boy Ink:

Last year Record Boy raved about the debut album by Gomez. I have been living with their sophomore effort Liquid Skin (Virgin) for a few weeks now and have come to the conclusion that once again these young lads have delivered another terrific album.

What a wonderful hodgepodge of influences these guys wear on their sleeves. If you ever wondered what Pink Floyd may have sounded like if they came from San Francisco, check out the track "Bring it on" (also the name of Gomez’s debut album…try to stay with me here!). If you took Eric Burdon and War and added some fuzzy, distorted ‘60s guitar you would come up with the song "Blue Moon Rising." Badfinger meets Metallica on "Fill My Cup." These guys do not believe in writing an album’s worth of material that is interchangeable. Each track reflects a different approach to songwriting.

The thing that really knocks me out about Gomez is that they are a very young band and they produce their own records. Among other things, a good producer helps musicians fully realize their aural potential. Producers advise on tempo, dynamics, and instrumentation and are responsible for the overall sonic quality of a record. We’ve all heard records that sounded like they were recorded in a trash can and everybody has their favorite "audiophile" album. But these boys have a very solid vision of how they want to present themselves. Some of the tracks have explosive dynamics. The whole album is very "present." The vocals and instruments are clean and dry sounding.

The boys of Gomez are obviously tinkerers who throw in a variety of ambient sounds into each track. They add strings when necessary and on the track "Devil Will Ride," they put in the driest, in-your-face horns that I’ve ever heard. Record Boy instinctively wipes the horn players’ spittle off his face each time he hears this track. The only thing I hate is a police siren sounding thing they threw in that makes me freeze up in my recordmobile and look in my rearview mirror every time!

All these lads are good musicians, but their secret weapon is singer Ben Ottewell. Until I went to see the band perform last spring, every time I heard this whiskey tinged vocalist, I pictured some old bear sized dude with a full mountain-man beard. When this geeky, lanky dude with glasses stepped to the mic and that voice came out, it made Record Boy’s jaw drop!

Gomez’s strength as a band is this: they are young, adventurous guys who are not concerned about being the flavor of the month. They have a working knowledge of rock n’ roll history and don’t wallow in self-pity. There is an aura of dare I say it…fun…(there I said it!) that comes through in their music.

If that "F" word is missing from your life then Record Boy highly recommends that you get some Gomez!