(Big Brother/SonyBMG)

If it ain’t broken … make superficial changes so it looks like you’ve been busy

Come on, admit it, you’re a little bit jealous of Oasis these days, aren’t you? After years of being criticized for creating cookie cutter anthems and dadrock odes to debauchery (which they admittedly did, but it only became a problem after Be Here Now), they somehow pulled out 2005’s Don’t Believe The Truth, possibly their best release since Definitely Maybe. Well, Noel said it was the best, but he would, wouldn’t he? And the best part of it was how little the music had changed. Still lifting heavily from Lennon, Jagger, Jagger and Lydon, people marvelled at the inspired genius of adding some Bowie and Reed references, maybe even some Dylan. On Dig Out Your Soul (another of Oasis’ woeful attempts at sounding cosmically profound) they may have even added BRMC to the list, but knowing that Don’t Believe… wasn’t a fluke makes it even sweeter. Apart from their most solid band line-up all contributing songs, praise must go to producer Dave Sardy, who could make a kitten sound punchy and has obviously encouraged Oasis to embrace swirling feedback freakouts and big fat grooves. Noel remarked during recording that this album would contain no singles, but there’s no denying the electro-psych pound of The Shock Of The Lightning (who’s been listening to Primal Scream, then?) or the claustrophobic grandeur of I’m Outta Time (ditto with White album era Beatles). The latter track has also gained publicity because the ending contains an old recording of John Lennon. To be fair, everything they’ve written since 1994 contains old recordings of John Lennon, but at least this time they’re paying for it. Never has a band sounded so different by doing so little.

****½

MITCH ALEXANDER

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