Blossoms - Cool Like You (Album Review)

Did you hear the one about the band who recorded two versions of their second album, and then released the wrong one?

Blossoms are a curious beast. They sound like a swaggering ‘90s indie band fronted by Alex Turner who have been mysteriously shunted back in time to the ‘80s synth-pop craze. Recalling Tears For Fears, Joy Division, Oasis, New Order, the Killers and even Jean-Michel Jarre, the Stockport outfit’s Mercury nominated debut confidently combined an anachronistic mishmash of eras and styles.

Catapulted into the public consciousness on the back of Charlemagne’s infectious melodic glisten, it was a refreshing bow that didn’t sound like many contemporary acts.

And, using that hit as a blueprint for ‘Cool Like You’, the band haven’t so much doubled as quadrupled down on pop-infused anthemics backed by a ceaseless flow of parping synthesisers.  

Although nothing here matches the calibre of Charlemagne, there are some very good moments. There’s A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls), I Can’t Stand It and the title track burrow into the deepest recesses of one’s brain thanks to synth passages that, by consistently foreshadowing well-penned melodies, make their mainstream-crashing hooks even more memorable.

After the first four tracks, however, the record’s stylistic repetition begins to grate and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish one song from the next. Blossoms are recycling the same radio-chasing formula and, as a result, ‘Cool Like You’ lacks the variety and subtle shadings their debut sagely employed to counterbalance its up-tempo commercial numbers.

This flaw is compounded by the relentless deployment of limelight-hogging synthesisers. Sure, the Doctor Who spookiness of Unfaithful is wonderful, and they provide nice textural flourishes, but their dominance often distracts from personal lyrics by Tom Ogden that deserve to be presented in a more appropriate manner.

This is glaringly obvious when listening to the deluxe edition of ‘Cool Like You’, which comes with a bonus disc that features a completely stripped back version of the entire album. With acoustic guitars and delicate piano strokes gently backing him, there’s a spaciousness that not only allows Ogden’s storytelling to take centre stage, but also shows that, when their emotional and musical nuances are allowed to breathe, these classy compositions aren’t as stylistically homogeneous as they appear.

The original Stranger Still is promising until it turns into a completely inappropriate clubbing anthem that smothers any discernible lyrical message. By way of contrast, the acoustic rendition is much more fitting for a song that’s achingly vulnerable. Likewise, Giving Up The Ghost’s beautiful piano intro sounds like early Tori Amos and, where the original’s chorus is overly congested, its haunted mellifluousness is hypnotic when pared to the bone.

It would have been smart to incorporate some of those tracks onto the main album, but seeing as almost every sparse rendition is superior to the original, releasing the bonus disc as the main record would have made for a wonderfully surprising artistic statement. Granted, it would have been one hell of a ballsy move, but by chasing their Charlemagne-shaped tail on ‘Cool Like You’ Blossoms have surrendered the authentic creative voice that shone so brightly first time out.

Blossoms Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:

Thu May 10 2018 - LONDON O2 Forum Kentish Town
Fri May 11 2018 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Sat May 12 2018 - NORWICH Norwich Nick Rayns LCR UEA
Fri June 08 2018 - LIVERPOOL Invisible Wind Factory

Click here to compare & buy Blossoms Tickets at Stereoboard.com.

More Reviews from Simon Ramsay

Pistol Annies - Interstate Gospel

The Struts - Young & Dangerous

Eric Church - Desperate Man

Monster Truck - True Rockers

Billy F Gibbons - The Big Bad Blues

Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators - Living The Dream

Joe Bonamassa - Redemption

Federal Charm - Passenger

Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog

Dan Owen - Stay Awake With Me

Deaf Havana - Rituals

James - Living In Extraordinary Times

Related News

Blossoms To Play Biggest Show To Date At Stockport's Edgeley Park Next Summer

Tue 16 Oct 2018

Artwork: BanditNanna Blossoms will play their biggest headline show to date next summer.

Blossoms Add Belfast and Dublin Dates To Winter Tour

Tue 04 Sep 2018

Blossoms have added dates in Belfast and Dublin to their winter tour.

Blossoms Tickets For December UK Tour On Sale 9am Today

Fri 27 Jul 2018

Blossoms have announced plans to tour the UK this winter. Blossoms tickets go on general sale at 9am today.

The Twilight Sad - It Won/t Be Like This All The Time (Album Review)

Tue 22 Jan 2019

When football fever gripped England in the summer of 2018, as Gareth Southgate’s side saw off Sweden to book a place in the World Cup semi-finals, the celebrations extended to the sweltering heat of London’s Hyde Park. A huge crowd had assembled to witness a similarly colossal line-up curated by the Cure at British Summer Time, swapping the pubs and bars of the capital for sweeping goth-pop following the final whistle.

Broken Social Scene Announce 'Let's Try The After (Vol. 1)' EP, Share Lead Single All I Want

Tue 22 Jan 2019

Photo: Richmond Lam Broken Social Scene are streaming the lead single of their forthcoming new EP, 'Let's Try The After (Vol. 1)'.

Steve Mason - About The Light (Album Review)

Thu 24 Jan 2019

‘About the Light’, Steve Mason’s first collection since 2016, is a raucous album of finely tuned British rock that gyrates and swaggers with skill and precision. It’s an excellent turn from a musician whose decades-long musical career has taken him on a journey through folktronica, experimental indie and the borderlands of downtempo shoegaze, and who has been through multiple reinventions since the Beta Band called it quits.

Blood Red Shoes - Get Tragic (Album Review)

Thu 31 Jan 2019

Blood Red Shoes’ fifth studio album is a lairy procession of ‘90s-infused indie-rock songs that make great use of Laura-Mary Carter’s sexy, laconic burr. Created after the band fell out—and Carter promptly left for L.A.—the Brighton duo built bridges and got to work. The result is probably their best work since 2008’s ‘Box of Secrets’.

Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow (Album Review)

Wed 23 Jan 2019

Photo: Ryan Pfluger We’ve all got them: those little chores we should be getting on with. Posting that letter. Watering our houseplants. Shaving our legs. Sharon Van Etten’s got them, too, but she favours a different approach to these small administrative tasks. ‘Remind Me Tomorrow’, her fifth album, is about being more present and not giving a shit about the small stuff.