After their highly entertaining debut EXPECTING TO FLY (1996) and the highly dissapointing follow up LAST CHANCE SALOON (1998) it is happy relief to find such a musical delight here on SCIENCE AND NATURE. A collection of songs, most of which play out variations on a similar theme, lost love, first love, unrequited love, car love etc. This is an album thats wears it influences and worldwise savvy on its sleeve. The core of the album is simple hooky melodies set against poetic lyrics all backed up by a range of instruments that give a fresh sound from track to track and over repeat plays. The unusual use of the voice as an instrument is novel, but works well, on "Mudslide" giving the impression of bouncing along on a journey and bringing more than a hint of The Beach Boys to Autophillia. The bold, but increasingly common, step of including an instrumental track "Blood Bubble" works well, due to its highly energetic collection of keyboards that whirl around each other like a maelstrom. The whole thing is neatly bookended by the up beat "Zorro" which gets the album up and running without delay and the whistfully enchanting "Emilys Pine", almost a lullaby in its soothing nature, brings the album to a very neat conclusion. The Bluetones seem to be following the more musical path away from Britpop in the footsteps of Supergrass or Geneva. Occasionally the juncture between tracks seems a little jolted, but this doesn't detract from the bands best work to date.
GARETH  GETVOLDSEN (8)
 
 

A good friend of mine, a sound engineer with an Irish rock band, was travelling across the Nevada desert listening to the first LP by the Bluetones on a tape he received from the record company, the band being then on the same label as his charges. Apparently the music so offended his ears that he and the band (and I quote him here); "had to keep our eyes peeled for dozens of miles until one of us spotted on the dusty ground a rock big enough to truly smash the offending tape." Legend has it that the tape is still out there by the roadside, somewhere in deepest Nevada. There's no way that I would have committed the same fate to my limited edition gatefold LP of that first record, the wonderful EXPECTING TO FLY, as I find the band rather charming. This record just confirms my belief that the Bluetones are one of the better acts to emerge from the UK in
recent years. Sorry mate, but it's true. Granted not everything on this third album would survive the crush of granite, but the good stuff here; Tiger Lily, Autophilia and the great instrumental Blood Bubble, are easily a match for anything on that
debut. The guitars play neatly, the harmonies sing sweetly, and the music carries you contentedly along like a pleasant breeze flowing across an empty desert landscape, one might say.
TONY DAGNALL (8)
 
 
 

Available through Superior Quality Recordings.
http://www.Bluetones.co.uk
 
 

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