GOMEZ

GOMEZ
FIVE MEN IN A HUT
(A'S, B'S & RARITIES 1998-2004) (2006)
320 KBPS

Five Men in a Hut is basically the final roundup for Gomez's Hut/Virgin years, but it's a positive boon for fans, especially in the U.S. In the U.K., each Gomez album had at least a few associated singles, but they never got the same treatment stateside. Since each album had a certain specific "sound" to it, one can see how some of these songs wouldn't have fit with the album they were recorded with, but the B-sides were hardly throwaways. In fact, the B-sides were often excellent and allowed the band to try different things and stretch out a bit. Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline gathered a few of these tracks, but more than half of Five Men in a Hut is comprised of B-sides (and two previously unreleased tunes) so ultimately all the A's and B's of many of these singles are now readily available. Each disc of this set is packed with music; it would have been difficult to include much more. Highlights include the country-ish "Tanglin'," "Best in Town," and the hilarious "Dire Tribe." There's a wonderful cover of Charley Patton's "Mississippi Boll Weevil Blues" and they put a horn section to good use on "Chicken Bones." "Air Hostess Song" borders on electronica, as does the vocodered "ZYX." Since each album was different from the others, it's really interesting to hear all the different Gomez sounds together on the same album. This would make an excellent introduction to the band, but it's at least as exciting for the longtime fan (if not more so) since more than half of this material has been difficult if not impossible to track down. Ultimately, excluding the alternate mixes of album tracks and live cuts that weren't included here, there are only seven remaining songs that exist only on singles. Songs like "Who's Gonna Go to the Bar," the epic, sprawling "Gomez in a Bucket," and the vinyl-only "Wham Bam" will apparently remain unavailable, but Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline and Five Men in a Hut together will satisfy all but the most rabid Gomez collector. Five Men in a Hut is a great summation of this fantastic band's early years.

Disc 1
1. Whippin' Piccadilly (Turbo Version)
2. Best In The Town
3. Catch Me Up (Edit)
4. Ping One Down
5. Tanglin'
6. Bring It On (Radio Edit)
7. Champagne For Monkeys
8. ZYX
9. Step Inside
10. Blind
11. Pop Juice
12. 78 Stone Wobble
13. Royalty
14. Old School Shirt
15. Air-hostess Song
16. Sweet Virginia
17. Mississippi Boweevil Blues
18. Old China

Disc 2
1. Rhythm And Blues Alibi (Pre-Mellotron Version)
2. Silhouettes
3. Silence
4. Butterfly
5. Get Myself Arrested
6. Dire Tribe
7. We Haven't Turned Around
8. So
9. Shot Shot
10. Chicken Bones
11. Flight
12. Pick Up The Pieces
13. Big Man
14. Sound Of Sounds (Single Version)
15. Pussyfootin'
16. Coltrane
17. M57
18. Diskoloadout