In Our Gun [CD]

Courtisé par l'ensemble de la critique en 1998 pour un premier album non conformiste, Bring It On, ce quintet de Liverpool avait réussi a transformer le brouillard cafardeux de la Mersey en marécages humides du plus profond des bayous. Dédaignant la pop, Gomez emporté par le chanteur-guitariste Ben Ottewel qui grommelle comme un Tom Waits sevré, explorait alors un patrimoine vieux comme un blues du Mississippi blues. Quatre ans plus tard, débarrassé du dossard "psychedelic blues", Gomez poursuit encore les fantômes de Dr John, Tim Buckley ou Marvin Gaye. Les cinq francs-tireurs ont peaufiné leur machine à désosser le temps et font suinter le blues, le folk et le funk de leurs chansons gigogne. Leur troisième album, chargé de refrains accrocheurs et de guitares slide, scelle la rencontre improbable entre Blur et Morphine. --Sabrina Silamo

CD The Third Album Proper From The Most Inventive British Band Of The Past Five Years, In Our Gun Is Bang On Target And Brilliantly Off Kilter. Gomez Create New Musical Hybrids Every Time They Hunker Down In The Musical Laboratory. Since Emerging From Southport With The Mercury Prize-Winning Debut Bring It On In 1998, The Self-Produced Five-Piece Have Created Their Own Rules. What'S Miraculous About Their Follow Up To Liquid Skin Is That It Manages To Advance On The Manic Diversity Of Its Predecessors. Gomez Are A Unique Band--They Have Three Distinctive Vocalists In Ben Ottewell, Ian Ball And Tom Gray And An Ever Fizzling Chemistry Where Every Member Is Made To Count. The Resulting Emotional And Musical Palette Is Vast, Encompassing Epic Grandeur And Lucid Intimacy; Tenderness And Anger. A Quick Check Of Their Armoury Reveals Beefheart-Ian Blues, A Beautifully Cantankerous Horn Section, Mariachi Melodies, Euphoric Harmony Vocals, Blasting Hip-Hop Beats, Slide Guitar That Sounds Like It'S Come Up The Mersey Via The Mississippi... And That'S Just For Starters. Resistance To Their Gun Is Futile, But Rest Assured Surrender Is Bliss. --Gavin Martin Gomez Have In The Last Three Years Managed To Stay Ahead Of The Pack By Dint Of Their Very Unclassifiable Nature. A Few Sad Hacks Have Labelled Them 'Progressive' For The Simple Crime Of Daring To Change Time Signatures Mid-Song Once In A While And Displaying A (Healthy) Propensity For Multi-Instrumentalism. Yet Despite Such Slurs Here They Are With Their Third Album Proper. Yes, The Difficult Third Album, But Is Three The Magic Number? Things Get Cracking With The Single "Shot Shot", A Rumbling Two Chord Knockabout That Departs Almost As Soon As It Arrives Leaving You Breathless And Expectant. Unfortunately That'S Exactly How You Remain Until The End Of The Album. Two And A Half Years Down The Line From Liquid Skin The Sound Is Fuller. Headphone-Level Examination Reveals Plenty Under The Bonnet; Bubbling Electronics, G