Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul

Are these guys never happy?

More music from people who never seem to be happy about anything. Oasis are starting to become the kid at school who are always moaning about something, and to begin with you are interested about their heartfelt dismay, but after a while you begin to tire of it and wish the kid would go away.
This is what Oasis has become, for me. Been there, heard that, got the t-shirt.

I really enjoyed this the first time I listened to it and heard it from beginning to end, then immediately went back and listened to the whole thing again. I thought it was very enjoyable, solid and entertaining.
Do you notice how the above is written in the past tense?
The album quickly becomes boring, because while there is talent and ability there, the whole thing comes with a huge dollop of contempt, and it all becomes a little too Oasis for my liking.
Like a cheese omelette that has too much cheese in it.

This is not just me wishing for the heyday of Britpop, although I do, and yes, one of the iconic songs from my youth was an Oasis song, so I do feel as though I owe them something, but this album is dulL (with a capital L)

Maybe I am a little harsh on them. This is a lot better than every indie album that has come out since 2002, but that isn’t that hard of a task, and there’s a lot of good in here, there isn’t a bad song on the album. If you are under the age of 13 and like indie music, you should be worshipping this album as your new god.

It’s just that Oasis have seen better days.

Maybe, for you, the initial joy that I had for this album will be sustained, and you will get a lot from this album, but for my, it will drift down from my ears and out of my arse.

Listen to this album: Sporting a grimace.

65%

Extracts from ‘Bag it up’, ‘I’m outta time’, ‘Ain’t Got Nothin” and ‘Soldier On’

‘The Shock of the Lightning’

Travis – Ode to J.Smith

Perfect for the background.

This is an album that fades away while I’m doing other things, but as soon as I actually start to pay attention to the music, it starts to annoy me. I found it very easy to potter about and do other things while this album was on, but none of the tracks lured me back to the computer to find out the name of the specific track that was playing.

The music is pleasant enough, and is energetic enough to carry me though my daily tasks, and I’m glad I have plenty to do today. Usually I’m walking while listening to music, and I can tell that I would have very quickly turned this over had I been walking to work while listening to ‘Ode to J.Smith’.

‘The man who’ was the only Travis album I’d heard at any length before this one, and thus it was the only one that I liked. I did very much like that album, with it’s slightly ridiculous fun and optimistic sounding songs, where even songs like ‘Why does it always rain on me’ which has some very melancholy lyrics, still had enough bounce and singalongability. I don’t know what happened between now and then, maybe the Record Label cut of one off their toes every time they smiled, because this album doesn’t have a single smile in the whole thing. It’s sullen and moody and grown up. If someone can tell me what’s happened to this band in the last eight and a half years to explain such a change in tone, let me know.

Maybe they just hit puberty.

It’s said that each song on the album is “written about nameless characters or to nameless characters” but they seem to be about and to people I know nothing about, and the songs don’t tell me and I don’t really care about. It’s like watching a documentary where they never once tell you who they’re talking about.

Listen to this album: While doing something more interesting than picking your nose.

Rating: 61%

Extracts from ‘J.Smith’, ‘Long way down’, ‘Quite Free’ and ‘Song to self’

The Charlatans – You Cross My Path

Safe and comforting alternative rock.

It’s quite hard to listen to this album and not feel optimistic. If you’re in the depths of autumn, you know that winter is coming but this album reminds you that spring is just getting it’s wellies on. The only exception to this is the song ‘My name is despair’, which, as you can probably tell, is less about the optimism and more about despair but don’t let this worry you, there’s still a pinch of optimism in there.

It’s a nice, safe album that wraps you up in a familiar blanket and puts you to bed with a drink of hot milk.

The tidy guitars and the soothing vocals surround you and give you a cuddle and a kiss on the forehead. The drums tuck you in at night and the bass keeps guard outside the door to protect you from anything scary and unfamiliar.

The album is very well presented and should be a good companion for you.

Listen to this album: Tucked up in bed.

Rating: 82%

Extracts from ‘Mis-takes’, ‘A day for letting go’, ‘My name is despair’ and ‘This is the end’

‘Oh Vanity’