Gomez
Split The Difference

Just after the funeral of "brit-pop" the greatest fear that seemed to be creeping
through the environment was that, although this widely devalued genre had been consigned to history, for most young English musicians the only interest seemed to be to continue singing about a "wonderwall" and a Sally who would never love them. For a moment, the general feeling coming from Albion was that after years in which the Madchester scene to the Oasis had brought new life to rock, ideas had suddenly completely run out.

In this context fits the pleasant reception given to Gomez back in 1998. From Liverpool, one of the most suspected sites at that time for churning out bowl-cut clones, finally emerged a group of guys who while not renouncing the roots of English melodic-rock, were not afraid to draw inspiration elsewhere, even far from England itself, creating a sound that soon became distinctive and unique to the band itself.
"Split The Difference" is Gomez's latest effort and excluding the debut "Bring It On" which revealed its potential, it is the best of their entire production.
Permanently set aside the digital interferences that made "In Our Gun" appear as an attempt at excessive experimentation, and abandoned the idea of a totally self-produced work (the producer now is Tchad Blake who has worked with Tom Waits and Crowded House), these last 13 tracks turn towards a more rock sound, more incisive and direct which does not, for this reason, relegates the usual charming melodic touch to a secondary role.

Excellently played blues-rock, influences ranging from psychedelia to folk, the usual perfect alternation of almost all members of the band on the microphone and finally the inevitable handful of ballads ("Sweet Virginia" recalls for nostalgia and impact their flagship "We Haven’t Turned Around", the concluding "There It Was" is simply a jewel), compose a picture that shows us Gomez at the height of their artistic maturity now finally free from being considered only a pleasant surprise.