Sunday 23 August 2015

Powerpop - Ian Gomm

So I was playing some post-punk powerpop a few weeks back before I got distracted. And now I return.

Ian Gomm was a member of pub-rock band Brinsley Schwarz, and I think this was his first solo single under his own name. It's Chuck Berry's song 'Come On', as covered by the Rolling Stones for their debut, but a complete re-imagining of the piece - a slightly disturbing, paranoid version that borrows from the kind of new wave reggae associated with Elvis Costello at the time. Around a minute into it and a terrific echo-dripping guitar riff comes in, after which it gets even more tense.

Gomm had an American hit with his next single, 'Hold On', and wrote some good songs, but nothing was ever as stunning as this record.


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