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MUSIC: Gomez, Academy 3, Thurs 4 Sep

David Sue
27/ 8/2008

BACK when they first emerged in 1998, Gomez seemed less like a band, and more like a puzzling case for Mulder and Scully – like a freaky musical occurrence that simply couldn’t be explained.

On the surface, they resembled nothing less than a bunch of geekish Science students, oozing all the non-glamour of a University Challenge quiz team.

Yet beneath the exterior, Gomez revealed themselves as an incredible sounding blues-rock band; from their deft, earthy musicianship to their gruff, whisky-soaked voices, these five north west lads sounded like they had been possessed by an authentic Mississippi blues band from the 1920s.

The main problem though – could Gomez keep up the novelty? Were these Southport students just convincing blues-rock mimics with no musical identity of their own?

Despite being dropped by their record company after three albums, 10 years later Gomez are still producing albums of high inventive quality.

But although they continue to release new material, the band’s appeal these days is limited to a modest cult fanbase.

All of which explains the thinking for this latest tour, Gomez’s ‘Bring It On Tenth Anniversary Tour’ – a chance for the band to play their acclaimed Mercury-winning debut album in full, but also a chance to put them themselves back on the map and crank up their public profile.

Maybe there’s still time for Mulder and Scully to investigate this most intriguing of musical anomalies.