Gomez - In Our Gun 2LP

Since their Mercury Prize-winning 1998 debut, Bring It On, this self-produced five-piece have created their own rules. The third album proper from one of the most inventive British bands around, In Our Gun is brilliantly on target and off kilter. 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 armory 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. --Gavin Martin

1 Shot Shot
2 Rex Kramer
3 Detroit Swing 66
4 In Our Gun
5 Even Song
6 Ruff Stuff
7 Sound Of Sounds
8 Army Dub
9 Miles End
10 Ping One Down
11 1000 Times
12 Drench
13 Ballad Of Nice And Easy