7 / 10
From Hounslow they came, jangling their way through intricate chart defences
courtesy of Mark Morris's soft-shoe shuffle and tunes that could melt the
hardest Carhartt heart. Where most of their Camden-bred peers sang love
songs with the emotion of someone whose mobile was on the blink, the 'Tones
had a vulnerability natural to a band who dressed in school uniform and
were the height of hobbits. 'Are You Blue Or Are You Blind?', 'Slight Return',
'Marblehead Johnson', they're all here, plus we even get three new tracks:
'Freeze Dried Pop', 'Persuasion' and 'The Bluetones Big Score', which, for
all their surburban sleazery are still as sweet and reassuring as a cup of
tea at half-time. Their traditional generosity even stretches to an
additional cd of b-sides. That's just how things are in the Blue-niverse. A
big hand then for the Ole Gunner Solskjaers of Britpop. It's been a
pleasure.
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