Posted on Sunday 30 April 2006
If you’re like me, a new Gomez album is always something to look forward to. I can remember the day that I bought Liquid Skin, which was my first exposure to the band, and driving around in Milwaukee that night I couldn’t believe the music that I was hearing. I got back into the city and made it to Atomic Records just before closing, and bought In Our Gun that very same day.
About a month ago I received the new album, How We Operate. Let me be the first to say that this album was a grower for me. I didn’t fall in love with it on first listen, but, like so many of my favorite records, friends, even girlfriends it took some time to find the greatness that this record is. The record starts off on a delicate note, and progresses through a lot of love tinged stories of the changes that life throws your way. This record would be perfect for a late night renvendous at your place as the night is slowly making way to day. It’s also sound really great in my car as the weather in Wisconsin finally turns from cold to warm.
So, when their label asked if I was interested in holding a Gomez contest, the answer was obviously yes. The contest will run for one week, and the winning prize pack includes:
One clear blue, limited-edition 7″ vinyl “How We Operate” single
One autographed poster
One copy of “How We Operate” album
Because I have the travel bug, and will be heading to Toronto for the next two weeks, I thought I would include traveling in the contest. Please leave a comment telling me where you would most like to travel. Contest ends May 8th.
How We Operate comes out this Tuesday, May 2nd. Here is some press release info:
For How We Operate, their fifth studio album, Gomez didn’t set out to reinvent the wheel. Oh no. The British quintet just wanted to change the blueprint for a different sort of rounded object: Their own records. To help focus their energies on their first studio release for ATO, the band decided to try a wholly new tack, and enlist their first outside producer. When Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters) was named as a candidate, the band leapt at the suggestion.
This album only gets better the more you hear it. Scrutinize the spacey, almost psychedelic title track closely, and the advantages of the band’s judicious new approach to arrangements are evident. “Girlshapedlovedrug” is a beguiling portrait of “a wicked girl… the worst in the world…” who still proves irresistible to the narrator, while elsewhere, the bluesy “Chasing Ghosts With Alcohol” and the twilight reverie of “Charley Patton Songs” find Gomez in a more reflective mood. “There’s always been a certain ragged glory to Gomez, ” concludes Gomez vocalist/guitarist Tom Gray. And How We Operate retains and revitalizes that glory – and presents it in a more immediately gripping form. “This is certainly the most cohesive record we’ve made,” observes Ian Ball (vocals, guitar, harmonica). “And yet it remains stylistically genre-less.” Which is to say, it’s still brilliantly, unabashedly… Gomez.
