Ocean Colour Scene - Saturday Album Review

Review of Ocean Colour Scene's album Saturday

Ocean Colour Scene are one of those bands who peaked in the nineties Britpop era, and then hung out in the background for their loyal fans. I'm not saying that I'm not a fan, but their earlier work certainly was more of a hit with me. Songs for the Front Row will always be a favourite, but tastes change and we move on.

Saturday is the latest in a long line of studio albums from Ocean Colour Scene, and it's no different to the others of late. There are some strong and catchy tracks where you rekindle your love of the band, and then there are the ones where you hit skip, or zone out.

Tracks such as '100 Floors of Perception', Mrs Maylie', and 'Saturday' fill you with hope. They have that instant recognition and nostalgia. The definite Ocean Colour Scene sound and guitar riffs, with a great drum beat to support them. Catchy and upbeat, these tracks will stick in your head - before you know it you are singing along. This is the band we remember. These are incidentally the first three tracks on the album, leading to. Disappointment!

What follows are drab tracks, uninspiring tracks, and then pointless tracks. 'Sing Children Sing' would be an example of this. It doesn't seem to know what it is itself. It stands for none of the Ocean Colour Scene values, and has no impact. You would be ready to write this album off, but then you hit 'Word' - a beautifully powerful and emotive track, and it pulls itself back a bit.

Saturday is nothing dynamic, but then I wasn't expecting it to be. For the majority, Ocean Colour Scene have stuck to their Britpop values - happy, catchy, good times songs. This is no Moseley Shoals, but half of it is enjoyable.

There is no doubt that Ocean Colour Scene can still write a good song with a hook, and for this their loyal fans will be grateful. But it lacks modernity now, demonstrating why they struggle to regain their mid nineties success.

Laura Johnstone