‘Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline’ by Gomez

Their third album in three years, ‘Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline’ isn’t really an album. It’s a round up of b-sides and alternate versions of singles with a couple of new tracks thrown in. As a result, it’s predictably patchy.

Of the new songs (and I can’t be sure I’m right about this, but I think I am), ‘Bring Your Loving Back Here’ would have comfortably made a single, ‘Buena Vista’ sounds lovely, but unfocused, ‘Wharf Me’ and ‘High On Liquid Skin’ are nice enough, but forgettable, and the delightfully titled ‘Shitbag’ and ‘Shitbag 9’ are as worthwhile as they sound.

As for the rest, they’re a bit of a mixed bag. Nothing dreadful, but most of the songs that began lives as b-sides did so because they deserved to be b-sides. ‘Flavours’ and ‘Rosemary’ are the exception, as both are strong enough to stand by themselves – the first, a gentle acoustic track, the latter, a brooding monster. Of the alternative versions, ’78 Stone Shuffle’ is a lot of fun – clearly the sound of a band having a good time. ‘We Haven’t Turned Around (X-Ray Mix)’ is a brave attempt to strip back a more sumptuous track to its bones. It’s interesting, but not great. The album finishes with the band’s version of the Beatles track ‘Getting Better’. It’s played fairly straight, adding only some slide acoustic guitar and an extended outro, and altering the backing vocal arrangements. It’s a good cover, and a strong ending, but it’s not their song when all’s said and done.

It’s fine – I’ve enjoyed listening to it, but by it’s nature, it was never going to be great. It does, however, make a good ending to chapter one of the Gomez story. And that’s a bit of a shame, as chapter two wasn’t as good.