It’s a cliche but it’s true: the history of Britpop was written by the winners, a bunch of ambitious souls who, underneath the movement’s banner of convenience had little in common with each other but rode the last true wave of public consensus to gongs and glory.
A case in point, at the time Shed Seven were regarded by many commentators as hangers on, despite a string of hit singles and a couple of top ten albums. Why? It doesn’t matter. Since a reformation in 2007 York’s favourite musical sons have worked the heritage tour circuit, released an album of new material (2017’s Instant Pleasures) and now find themselves arguably more popular than ever.
Going For Gold then and now couldn’t contrast more: originally one notch above a label cash-in, with distance it’s a reflection of songs kept very much alive, ones whose grain – Chasing Rainbows, Speakeasy, Going For Gold – have long since eclipsed the era they were born in. For Shed Seven there’s no point fighting history, not when you still have a future where so much is still up for grabs.
You can read the full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 