5 months in.......

What a year 2006 is shaping up to be! Every week it seems there is a new record that is vying to be the best I've heard all year. And it's only May! Arctic Monkeys, Augie March, Tool and now Gomez! how we Operate, the new studio album from the suddenly prolific British 5 piece, follows in the mould of 2005's Split the Difference, but goes another step. Where StD had pop gems (Catch me Up, These 3 Sins, Me, You & Everybody), The Way we Operate has stone cold classics, with some of the catchiest choruses you're ver likely to hear (Notice, See the World, girlshapedlovedrug). And, where StD had a second half of more traditional Gomez meddling with structure and genre (and getting it right and wrong in equal measure), TWWO seems to work, with Eastern strings, horns and fuzz vocals. While Gomez could be accused of going a bit poppy, there seems to be a renewed focus and attention to detail that has been missing somewhat since 2000's Liquid Skin.
Gomez are back.