Painting

Long arm of coincidence, or the birth of Ocean Colour Scene

Ocean Colour Scene was born in 1989. And, despite of bumpy ride at the beginning of the career; guys did not panic and continued to create. The main push to the musical Olympus team received in 1993, when it went on tour with former frontman of The Jam Paul Weller. Money raised from performances helped the group to stay in the music business. Two years later, the guys were noticed by Noel Gallagher who invited them to tour in support of Oasis. As Britpop was becoming more and more popular, the interest in Ocean Colour Scene increased. Later, the group released such albums as Marchin 'Already and One from the Modern, which, in their turn, in the late 90s won first lines in the UK Albums Chart. Catching the music wave, guys did not stop and did not force the listener to wait, and were regularly presenting new albums for public trials. In 2010 total number of albums of the group was 9. In 2013 there is another one to their piggy bank. Album was not a surprise, because not so long ago, in 2012, guitarist Steve Cradock made an official statement that the group was currently recording in Stratford-upon-Avon with the help of Matt Terry, a wonderful producer, who showed us his professionalism in the albums of The Noisettes and The Enemy. The new album promises to take us back to melodic years of the end of the twentieth century and give us unforgettable 38 minutes and 16 seconds of quality music.

The Many Faces of Britpop

Lightly, kindly and in the best traditions of The Beatles, song We Don't Look In The Mirror opens Painting LP. Melodic minor chords, soothing, mellifluous voice of Simon and happy children's voices. It's just a light, good song with elements of gospel or spiritual. It is one of those songs, listening to which only good feelings wake up in you and you're ready to go and do the jests. Then the initiative is captured by the title track of the album, which can boast with a pronounced rock and roll sound. Incendiary, unobtrusive rhythm, encouraging and inspiring melodies and heartfelt lyrics are all there. Both songs are filled with the spirit of quality Britpop. The further the better. Goodbye Old Town meets us with country motive, fun guitar riffs, something like maracas on the background and pasticcio to typical, southern, American songs. Moreover, one can say anything but this album holds the music Britpop bar very high, besides, it is a good aged quality of the 60s. The guys did their best. All songs are stylized and imbued with the time spirit of British pop music reign. Rare heavy guitar chords of If God Made Everyone intertwine smoothly, softly and quietly with lyrical Weekend, enigmatic, mysterious and eerie Professor Perplexity gets along with the playful, carefree Doodle Book. For lovers of lyrical ballads, Ocean Colour Scene provided the entire second part of the album. And here dominate such songs as George's Tower, Mistaken Identity, and of course, the final Here Comes The Dawning Day. It is safe to conclude that not every modern album can boast with such a variety of moods and genres.

Album Painting as a monument of 90s tunes

Well, what can we say? The album is completely consistent with what we expected from Ocean Colour Scene. This is a refreshing breath of 90s Britpop wave that now will be very helpful for everyone, especially taking into account the variety and diversity of rap, indie and R&B bands nowadays. It is new refreshing stream. This music is for those who have lived and felt in the distant 90s. This LP is a kind of a flashback, nostalgia for past times. But despite of slightly negative connotations of the words, the music, surprisingly, has rather positive and happy outlook on life. No gray, worn, blear or burnt images, all these filters can be safely left for Instagram fans. Painting gives us live, bright, vivid colors and brings us the atmosphere and the spirit of youth - sometimes rebellious, sometimes explosive, romantic and melancholic, but alive and free of impurities. There is only one minus that can be seen - the clean studio sound, fans of lo-fi may say that there is not enough noise, which was in abundance presented on reels and tapes of the last century. And for those who do not listen to this kind of music and think that it is an old men dull rock, or the critics who, without listening to the album, judging only by the band name and album immediately issue a sharply negative assessment. Well, for them this album is a must to listen to, as the quality of the songs, for sure, will make them both to reflect upon their own judgments. Album Painting - is the embodiment of all that is good in British rock in its hymns and ballads, and despite of the fact that the band Ocean Colour Scene is unfairly undervalued, Painting album may well be accepted, if not a as masterpiece, but certainly as an artwork of dashing 90s.