Ocean colour Scene - S/T (Deluxe Edition)

****

In my eyes Ocean colour Scenes best album!

Ocean colour Scene formed in Moseley, Birmingham, England in 1989 and took their influences from The Beatles, Paul Weller (The Jam) and maybe even The Jesus and Mary Chain but their first record had a more Indie Psychedelic sound to it and verged on a similar feel to Ride than their later work that adopted a similar Manchester sound of bands like Oasis and The Stone Roses. The first self-titled album was released on March 1st 1992 and was far different to their second 'Moseley Shoals' which took them to chart stardom with songs like 'The Riverboat Song' doing very well in the charts and the album going to No.2 in the UK chart. The good thing about these deluxe editions is that they really give you the chance to explore all the material recorded around the release of the bands debut album, which came out almost twenty two years ago and really sets the sound of the time nicely. When I listen to this release it takes me back a long way and makes me remember friends and what I was doing when it came out. 

In places 'Ocean colour Scene' had an ambient spiritual feel with first track 'Talk On' having nice jangley guitars by Steve Cradock that drift the song by slowly, but it isn't to second track 'How about You' that we realise the band can write a good commercial Indie Pop song. This song is really well put together and has great lyrics that makes it have a real appeal to teenagers in the 90's but does sound a little dated now, but that isn't always a bad thing. You would not exactly put Ocean colour Scene in the bracket of trend setters now, but single 'Giving it all Away' really has a sound that for me defines the early 90's and brings you on to listening to bands like Ride or the Stone Roses and feel they really grabbed in the Indie feeling that was going around at the time, so this is a song I would really recommend. 

Check Out! the band performing 'Sway' live on the TV show 'The Word' Below...

'Justine' for me was always a track I skipped never really grabbed me in and I personally would have not put it on the album they have better material on the second CD that deserved a place on the album more than this track did. 'Do yourself a Favour' verges on so many genres and even introduces a little bit of Soul or Funk / Blues into the album with little riffs that link really nicely. 'Third shade of Green' is a nice song but should have been later on in the album but does explore some nice haunting vocals from singer Simon Fowler that then picks up into an incendiary guitar sound by Steve Cradock.'Sway' again mixes up Indie and Funk in a nice way that sounds similar to the Stone Roses in a lighter way and is really nice to listen to, this song maybe even has a touch of EMF to it.'One of these Days' gives you a hint of future releases while 'Blue deep Ocean' and 'Reprise' ends the album off in a chilled way.

This is really great and larger booklet is nice for any fan the second CD is full of loads of brilliant extra's like a unreleased single version of 'One of those Days' and the Original version of 'Sway' and loads of unheard material and great B-Sides like 'Yesterday Today' and lost gem 'Flowers' which is beautiful. This is a must for any Ocean colour Scene fan you can't go wrong with the added extra's which are a massive nineteen extra tracks and I think even if you have not heard the band before you would enjoy this material, it's very accessible. This is a definitive buy for fans of 90's Indie music! well worth the extra money and even if you already have it, it would not be out of place in your collection.

Review by Dan Devour

Check Out! the Video for 'Giving it all Away' Below...