Personnel: Naomi Radom (violin); Nick Wales (viola); Claire Brassil (cello); Coda Strings (strings); Dajon Everett (drums, percussion); Charles Danek, Christopher Wray-McCann, Peter Young, Tchad Blake, Sam Farrar (background vocals).

Additional personnel: Naomi Radom (violin); Clare Brassil (cello); Nick Wales, Dajon Everett.

Recording information: Edinburgh Sounds, Los Angeles, CA; Real World Sounds, Brighton; Sydney, Australia.

Creator: Tchad Blake.

Illustrator: James Stoten.

While the UK band Gomez occasionally gets miscast among Britpop acts of the 1990s, its sound is distinctly separate from groups such as Blur, Oasis, and the Verve. Like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, Gomez trades in gin-soaked, fuzz-laden heavy rock that owes much to the sounds of worn-out discs by early-20th-century blues artists. With its fourth album, SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE, the quintet hits a new peak, creating a burning, blues-inspired record rife with ruminating, serpentine guitars--an album that would likely have been lauded in the late '60s or early '70s, but also stands out nicely in 2004.

SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE fittingly opens with a classic-rock guitar riff that leads up to the growling, infectious chorus of "Do One" and then slips into the folksy, Band-style ballad "These 3 Sins." From there, the album ebbs and flows with varying degrees of unpredictable barroom rock. While Gomez is steeped in rich musical history, they've fashioned a sound distinctly their own, and SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE sees the ensemble comfortably hitting its stride.

Uncut (p.105) - 3 stars out of 5 - "'Sweet Virginia' is a lovely piece of baroque pop....[With] country-rock romps that recall the heyday of Albert Lee's Heads, Hands & Feet."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.106) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]he sound of a band who know their stuff....While Gomez sound like the promise of a cloudless summer, their music will still hold promise come winter's black stare."