The Friday Find: Ocean Colour Scene

Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley Shoals [MCA, 1996]

                             [click to download]

4.5/5

OK, it's not really Friday. Sorry I've been behind, but to make up for it I'm bringing a truly wonderful album out from the annals of history. Well, 13 years ago anyway, cmon, that's old!

So, the setting: England, 1996. Oasis and blur have just utterly ripped the britpop scene wide open with 1995's (What's the Story) Morning Glory? and 1994's Parklife (respectively) and it seems as if the rest of the country couldn't care less about any other bands. Ocean Colour Scene had already had a bit of a flop in their 1992 debut and were now trying to get back in the limelight. What's a fledgling guitar- and piano-rock band to do??

The simple answer is to make an incredible well-crafted album full of more hooks-per-minute than you can imagine. With one listen, you can easily hear how vocalist Simon Fowler sings drawing upon McCartney/Lennon, Jagger, and his contemporary Noel Gallagher of Oasis. It's quite a statement to compare Ocean Colour Scene to three of the biggest bands of all time, but thanks to championing from Paul Weller (of The Jam) and Gallagher himself, Ocean Colour Scene quickly rose up to iconic status in the UK with psych-tinged classic rock goodness that is Moseley Shoals.

Opening strong, "The Riverboat Song" packs a bluesy punch and shows off some of the slick guitar work of Steve Cradock (who played with Paul Weller previously) as he really brings out the old psychedelia influence of the band. The psych is at its strongest on other tracks like "You've Got It Bad" and the epic closer "Get Away." Tremelo and phase shifting across left to right (especially remarkable while listening on headphones), the light addition of psychedelia really takes Ocean Colour Scene's music to the next level on this album, as opposed to getting comfortable with arena-rock bombast akin to other big British bands (cough... Oasis).

However, OCS didn't jump to the top of the British charts and go multi-platinum (there, not here in the US) from a few great psych tunes-- where they really excelled (both musically and in terms of public appeal) was in their piano-stomping pop gems like "The Day We Caught the Trains" and "40 Past Midnight." They could even tone it down and produce some quality ballads ("The Downstream" is practically perfect, though, I really could have done without the rather forgettable "It's My Shadow"). Their ability to really craft an album full of varied styles and emotions is what makes Moseley Shoals so widely enjoyable.

In the end, it was largely due to their well-connectedness and praise from Weller and Oasis (who loved their album and invited them on tour) that propelled Ocean Colour Scene to the apex of their fame, but in the case of Moseley Shoals, it was very well-deserved success. If you like music, you will like this album (well, or at least a few tracks!)


Track pick: It's so hard to choose... I'll go with "You've Got It Bad."