Rating: Yes

Hardly a moment from Gomez' "Bring It On" contains something that you'll think you haven't heard before. The opener, "Get Miles," sounds like classic swampy Creedence; "Whippin' Piccadilly," sounds like early Paul Simon, "Tijuana Lady," could have come off the last Grant Lee Buffalo album, while "Here Comes the Breeze" and "Free to Run" have all the makings of classic, slow Pearl Jam wailers. That's a lot of American influences for a band that hails from Sheffield. And at first listen, you might think it's too many, until you listen to it again, and again and again. Thanks to a stable of keepers, "Bring It On" will grow on you and become a perennial fave for adding to mix tapes. The mighty press already has embraced these Brits as "the next big thing from 'cross the water," and for once, they're right. Gomez worships at the temple of hook--filled melodies, and with the mesmerizing "Bring it On," could soon have their many influences worshipping at their feet.

-- Tim McMahan

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Copyright © 1998 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.