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Customer Reviews of North Atlantic Drift

Northern Soul
With North Atlantic Drift, Ocean Colour Scene continue to explore the brand of Northern soul they reinvented in the early 90's and was then made popular by bands like The Verve and Stereophonics. While many of their compatriots have gone on to popularity abroad, OCS have always been a strictly English taste. That will probably remain the same with this sixth studio release. Which is too bad, actually. Though the palette is similar to past releases, North Atlantic Drift is more muscular and consistent than recent efforts. Simon Fowler has written a set of candid, effective lyrics, and he invests them with career-high vocals. The band, especially journeyman guitarist Steve Craddock, matches him with focus. They've always been expert at ballads - that's no different here, especially the lifers' commitment of "Golden Gate Bridge" - but it's the rockers that hold court throughout. Most impressively on opener "I Just Need Myself", about self-sufficiency as a way of life, and the title tune, whose war metaphor is imposed, political, and absolutely relative.

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One of the Best of 2003
With their strongest release since "Marchin' Already," the OCS are back in a big way.

Apart from their usual abundance of classic rock hooks, what's really remarkable about "North Atlantic Drift" is the wide variety of rock styles and influences. "On My Way," with its hard-driving guitar attack and tight horn-section chaser, could have been pulled right off of "Sticky Fingers" or "Exile on Main Street." "For Every Corner" features some neat Beach Boys-style harmonies. "Second Hand Car" and "Question" are a pair of remarkable acoustic folk-rockers. The swelling psychedelic intensity in the coda of "When Evil Comes" suggests the feel, if not the sound, of the Beatles' unforgetable finish to "A Day in the Life." Even some perfectly placed blues harmonica makes an appearance on the chilling "Will You Take Her Love." And a good-natured tribute to the weekend, "I Want to See the Bright Lights," suggesting a mix of 70s country-pop and Sly & the Family Stone, finishes the album with one last musical twist.

OCS refreshingly avoids the punk influences that infect so many of their Brit-Pop counterparts. Their records also avoid the ironic self-consciousness and cynicism of the past decade. The OCS sound is unabashedly straight-forward and sincere, suggesting not only their 60s classic rock forbears, but also the best of what so many music lovers now remember fondly of the 1980s. The best track of this exceptional disc, "Make the Deal," illustrates this perfectly. While drawing from the best traditions of classic rock, it remains unmistakeably their own, with a refrain at once insanely catchy and emotionally moving.

What a shame that, given the nature of today's music industry, neither "Make the Deal," nor any of the other great songs on "North Atlantic Drift," will ever be heard on American radio.

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They're Back!
If you like rock & roll you will love this album. I was worried that the band had been gone for so long (touring with Paul Weller) but it turns out that the touring and playing together non stop since their last release has only made the band that much better. If you want to find out where The Strokes or The White Stripes or Coldplay are coming from buy this album.