56) Gene Olympian

Melody Maker made Gene the Brightest Hope of 95 and with comparisons with The Smiths the band quickly found an audience.

This was their debut album and two singles had preceded the release. The opener Haunted By You starts with a lovely bit of guitar and the band power behind lead singer Martin Rossiter. It’s a great tune and had followed previous single Sleep Well Tonight into the top forty. Sleep Well is not as immediately catchy as Haunted but subsequent plays reveal a fantastic driving pop single. Reminds me of Suede, probably just me.

Your Love, It Lies, Truth, Rest Your Head and A Car That Speeds, guitarist Steve Mason excels, and Rossiter performs vocal dynamics, four tracks in and all top notch.

Sadly Left-Handed, To the City and Still Can’t Find the Phone are not up to the same standard, trust me they are good, just not to the same level.

London, Can You Wait takes us back to sublime and the title track, Olympian showcases Rossiter’s vocal as the band play at a subtle restrained pace before strings and the band kick off, many a band would be proud to have this number in their back catalogue. We’ll Find Our Own Way takes us out on a high.

They deserve to be remembered and talked about a lot more.

8/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Sleep Well Tonight