At a time when a lot of their peers from the Britpop era are either re-forming or moving off into new projects The Bluetones are still releasing music and, perhaps more impressively, doing it with the original line up still intact.
It was 1993 when the foursome came together in West London, finding ‘a shared love of late night television and lie ins’. They fast became one of the most successful bands of the mid 90’s with their quirky indie pop carving them a niche in a market filled with Oasis and Blur wannabes.
Seventeen years on and they have maintained a hardcore of a fan base, releasing their 6th album in May of this year ‘A New Athens’ to mostly positive reviews. The band has just started a UK tour, releasing new single ‘Golden Soul’ to coincide with hitting the road.
From the first listen it’s clear that the bands’ move to a more mature and mellow sound, demonstrated on the self titled previous album has continued. Rather than the sing-a-long choruses and bouncy beats that punctuated their heyday the current Bluetones have an almost country music feel to them.
‘Golden Soul’ drifts along through its’ 3 minutes with Mark Morriss’ soothing vocal smoothly flowing over a relaxed background sound that is a surprisingly pleasant move away from what you expect to hear from The Bluetones. Eds Chesters brushed drums provide a shuffling feel, giving the whole track a soft and chilled out sound.
If you’re a former fan of the band hoping for a re-do of ‘Bluetonic’ or ‘Slight Return’ then you’re going to be disappointed. I like the change in style and quite enjoy the mellower feel but at the same time there’s an ache for the song to go somewhere or do something to make it remarkable which, quite honestly just isn’t there.
Stereoboard Album Rating: 7/10
You can catch the Bluetones at the following UK Shows:
25/11/10 – Oran Mor Bar, Glasgow
26/11/10 – The Factory, Manchester
28/11/10 – The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
29/11/10 – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
30/11/10 – Heaven, London
2/12/10 – Coalition, Brighton
3/12/10 – Roadmenders, Northampton
4/12/10 – Escobar, Leeds
6/12/10 – The Brickyard, Carlisle
7/12/10 – Guildhall, Gloucester
8/12/10 – O2 Academy, Leicester
9/12/10 – Talking Heads, Southampton
11/12/10 – Sheffield University, Venue: Fusion, Sheffield
12/12/10 – The Waterfront, Norwich
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From the first listen it’s clear that the bands’ move to a more mature and mellow sound, demonstrated on the self titled previous album has continued. Rather than the sing-a-long choruses and bouncy beats that punctuated their heyday the current Bluetones have an almost country music feel to them. 
