Britpop is back. Or so it would seem. Pulp and Suede are reforming, Blur are still umming and arring about whether or not to record any new material and Liam Gallagher is attempting to find out what life would be like without big bro. Also, speaking of Brother, one Slough-based group going by that very name have been accused of trying to revive the same genre and have even hooked up with Blur’s old producer Stephen Street to record their debut album. So who’s next?
Ocean Colour Scene, apparently. Although, unlike many of their so-called Britpop contemporaries, this Birmingham-based group have never actually split-up or even disappeared for any extended period of time. While you’d be forgiven for not realising that, it is in fact true. OCS have released another eight whole albums since their eponymous debut in 1992 – two years before both ‘Definitely Maybe’ and ‘Parklife’ entered our lives. So it would be quite unfair to accuse them of jumping on any Britpop revival bandwagon. However, it wouldn’t be quite as unfair to suggest that they were the latest band to be doing the whole “let’s take our classic album on tour” thing. For, in this case, that is exactly the case.
The album in question though is not their lesser-heard debut, but their second album ‘Moseley Shoals’ from 1996 – slap-bang in the middle of the Britpop era. And who could forget such an album? With anthems like ‘The Riverboat Song’ and ‘The Day We Caught the Train’, this was probably one of the best British albums of the whole decade. Certainly better than either ‘Morning Glory?’ or ‘The Great Escape’, which were probably two of the best-selling albums out when Britpop was at its most ridiculous peak. So why not revisit such a classic, regardless of the reasoning?
Ocean Colour Scene were originally formed in Birmingham in 1990 and released their debut single ‘Sway’ the same year. Although their debut album failed to gain any significant chart success, some support from friend Paul Weller helped to keep them going. Guitarist Steve Cradock continues to double as a member of Weller’s backing band to this day. In 1995, OCS went on tour with Oasis who, by then, had reached the peak of their success following the release of their first two albums. ‘Moseley Shoals’ was released the following year, easily outselling the band’s debut and reaching Number 2 in the UK Albums Chart. The album spawned three Top 10 singles and one Top 20. The latter track was ‘The Riverboat Song’ – a song that became instantly recognisable from its distinctive riff and inclusion on Chris Evans’s Channel 4 show ‘TFI Friday’.
Anyone not fortunate enough to catch the album the first time around will be pleased to hear that Ocean Colour Scene are about to re-release ‘Moseley Shoals’ as a Deluxe Edition with a whole bunch of extra tracks thrown in. And of course, the band will be back at the end of the year for this unmissable string of shows, where you will be able to hear this classic album played in its entirety.
’Moseley Shoals’ Tour Dates
November 29th - O2 Academy Bournemouth
December 1st - O2 Academy, Sheffield
December 2nd - O2 Academy, Leicester
December 3rd - The Engine Shed, Lincoln
December 5th - O2 Academy, Newcastle
December 9th - Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
December 10th - O2 Academy Brixton, London
December 11th - O2 Apollo, Manchester
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The album in question though is not their lesser-heard debut, but their second album ‘Moseley Shoals’ from 1996 – slap-bang in the middle of the Britpop era. And who could forget such an album? With anthems like ‘The Riverboat Song’ and ‘The Day We Caught the Train’, this was probably one of the best British albums of the whole decade. Certainly better than either ‘Morning Glory?’ or ‘The Great Escape’, which were probably two of the best-selling albums out when Britpop was at its most ridiculous peak. So why not revisit such a classic, regardless of the reasoning? 
