Moseley Shoals - Ocean Colour Scene

It's a strange experience to go back to an album that you adored and to hear it again years later. It's almost like hearing it through a new set of ears - it sounds familiar but different at the same time. And that is one of the wonderful things about this little project of mine - without it I'm sure that the album would've languished on the shelf for a good few years more.

I bought 'Moseley Shoals' at the height of the Britpop explosion after seeing a couple of live performances on TV. Great guitar driven and powerful performances. Ordinarily it wouldn't have been my bag - probably a bit too rock for my tastes at the time - but I was into Britpop in a big way so a purchase was made.

In my time I have bought numerous un-characteristic albums as the result of being too into a particular scene. But maybe that is their point; to give bands that otherwise may have been overlooked a chance to get into the limelight, however fleeting. Every scene has them; fringe bands that get their fifteen minutes of fame. Take the baggy 'Madchester' scene for example. Where are 'Northside' now? Having said that 'Shall We Take A Trip' is a classic indie pop tune. Yes my shelves are littered with the casualties of various music scenes.

And then there are those that get caught in the crossfire and get bundled into a particular group of bands. Take James for example. They were around well before the 'Madchester' thing kicked off but got swept along with everyone else. It did them no harm but others were not so lucky.

So how does 'Moseley Shoals' stand up after over 10 years of being on a shelf? Surprisingly well actually. It's by no means a classic and some of the songs start to feel a little over familiar towards the end of the album but there
are some cracking songs on here; 'The Riverboat Song' and 'The Day We Caught The Train' being two obvious examples. Great singles that any band would be pleased to have in their back catalogue.

I'm probably too old to be into a particular music scene - it requires a certain amount of blind following (and buying) for it to really work. I'm far too sensible to get caught up in that nonsense now. I'm a much more discerning listener. But I do wonder whether I'll be sat in front of a hi-fi in another ten years surrounded by dozens of more out of character purchases and chuckling quietly at my
naivety. Perhaps...... No wait! Make that probably!