Beady Eye
Different Gear, Still Speeding

It all depends on your point of view: are we facing the eighth album by Oasis, or the first album by a debut band named Beady Eye?
In the former case, you’d do well not to even approach this new record. In the latter case, you might even be surprised.

Everyone knows the story; there’s no point in going over it again. In 2009, Oasis (who, like it or not, have been one of the most important British rock bands of recent years for their impact on the public and their repeat production of classics) split up, and while the talented older brother Noel indulged in total idleness (aside from a few appearances here and there and a semi-acoustic concert), the younger brother Liam (the other half of the apple, with much less compositional talent compared to The Chief, but with rockstar stage presence and vocal recognizability from another era) rolled up his sleeves, called together his traveling companions from Oasis (Gem Archer on guitar, Andy Bell switching from bass to six strings, drummer Chris Sharrock) and added bassist Jeff Wootton (ex-Gorillaz) and keyboardist Jay Darlington. Thus, Beady Eye were born, who within a year and a half produced this debut, “Different Gear, Still Speeding” (as if to say, we may travel differently, but damn if we travel).

First point: just as those who consider this album the new Oasis album are greatly mistaken, those who consider it the solo debut of the younger Gallagher are doubly mistaken. This band includes two more than respectable compositional talents; Archer was the ex-frontman, songwriter, and guitarist of an old British group that received much less than it deserved, Heavy Stereo (listen to stuff like “Chinese Burns” or “Cartoon Moon” to believe it), while Bell has written occasionally memorable pages especially with the Ride and their Britpop drenched in shoegaze.

And, surprise, the best things from this debut come from Andy; the opener “Four Letter Word” immediately attacks, with its buzzing guitars owing too much to the old “Rock ‘n Roll Star” (really?) of Oasisian memory, and the following “Millionaire” with its crystalline pop and beautiful electro-acoustic guitar interplay, is a good hit candidate. Bell falters a bit when he tries to be our version of Noel and churns out a ballad for lighters like “Kill For A Dream”; without the ability to deliver a killer refrain (something that the older Gallagher and few others have), you risk an incomplete, and so it is. But when “The Beat Goes On” arrives, mouths remain open; perfect songwriting, autumnal Beatlesque melancholy by the ton, and Liam delivering a masterful performance. Chapeau.

Archer, for his part, signs the first official single “The Roller”, the first piece he wrote for Oasis in 2001 (the sessions were those of the overrated “Heathen Chemistry”); unjudgeable as it’s identical to Lennon’s “Instant Karma”, but it works on the radio, and in the end, the goal is achieved. “Wind Up Dream” is dirty just enough, and the harmonica solo makes it even more appealing, “Three Ring Circus” is incisive classic rock but loses a bit with a less curated refrain than usual, “Standing On The Edge Of The Noise” is loud enough to break apart the second half of an album dominated by Liam’s tracks, and thus more reflective.

Yes, Liam: in some cases, his growth as a songwriter is exponential (“Wigwam” thrills with its six minutes of psychedelic extension, “The Morning Son” with its crescendo finale and seagulls in the background is perfect for the end of a splendid summer, and is a candidate to be the album’s “Champagne Supernova”), in others he falls back into the rush to express himself (see “Beatles And Stones”, the weakest of the lot yet still sufficient, or “For Anyone”, with its R.E.M.-like jingle-jangle and sweet melodic vocal line).

In conclusion, a good and convincing start. But a question remains: with three or four inspired pieces from big Noel and the Oasis name nicely printed on the cover, would we be facing the much longed-for best album by the Mancunians since "Morning Glory"?

Who knows. In any case, welcome, Beady Eye.

Key tracks: “Wigwam”, “The Beat Goes On”, “The Morning Son”