Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
12:00 AM 12th October 2024
arts
Review
Albums: Blossoms - Gary
Blossoms - Gary
Big Star; What Can I Say After I’m Sorry?; Gary; I Like Your Look; Nightclub; Perfect Me; Mothers; Cinnamon; Slow Down; Why Do I Give You The Worst of Me?
ODD SK RECORDINGS
You could be forgiven for assuming that five albums in The Blossoms might have run out of ideas; on the contrary, this new album from the Stockport-based band is brimming with vitality and melodic pop songs that will reach out beyond their already big fanbase.
The album title refers to the giant gorilla statue that was stolen from a garden centre in Scotland. There is a parallel here in that the songs contained are big and bold.
The album begins with
Big Star, which features a funky guitar riff and a splash of brass from the horn section.
I Like Your Look could be an old Human League song, albeit without the 80s production. The uplifting mood continues on
Nightclub, which is in the style of the memorable pop songs Aztec Camera used to light up the charts with.
Elsewhere
Mothers details how singer Tom Ogden and drummer Joe Donovan were friends in the 80s and how they used to “dance to Rick Astley and The Smiths.” Interestingly, The Blossoms appeared on stage at Glastonbury last year, performing songs from The Smiths alongside Rick Astley.
As the album closes with
Why Do I Give You The Worst of Me?, the track starts off with a pounding beat and a nagging guitar riff that has a chorus you could imagine Jake Bugg singing, though the song also comes with a New Order-style groove as the track ends abruptly.
The Blossoms have finely tuned their sound with a well-rounded album that is just over thirty minutes long, and thankfully, they are still together, releasing music as captivating as this.