Liquid Skin, Gomez

Start with Eddie Vedder's wobbly yowl, add a dose of Pink Floyd-era psychedelics and rootsy slide guitar, then top it off with Beck-like aural treatments, and you get England's critically acclaimed Gomez. Liquid Skin is more forward-looking and a bit less bluesy than its 1998 predecessor, with murky electronic textures and filtered drum machines lurking beneath the melodic surface. The group continues to wear their inspirations on their sleeves at times. "We Haven't Turned Around" sounds like Pearl Jam on a trip to the Dark Side of the Moon, while "Bring It On" cops a groove directly from Bob Marley's "Lively Up Yourself." But unlike too many of its British contemporaries, Gomez seems intent on fusing their classic and contemporary influences into an original sound that will wear well over time.

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