Formed in 1993, it wasn’t long before the band Gene lead by singer Martin Rossiter became a buzz band in the UK press the following year. After a few well received singles, the band released their debut album Olympian in the spring of 1995 which took them into the top 10 of the UK charts. The black and white cover picture and melodramatic lyrics saw the band draw wide spread comparisons to The Smiths. “Haunted By You” about a broken relationship is set to a happier tune and handclap percussion. The single was their second top 40 hit.
With Rossiter’s slight vocal, he doesn’t quite capture the emotion quite like Morrissey or Bret Anderson from Suede, and equally, the music doesn’t break new ground. Yet, what the band does really well are choruses for the now 50 year old kids to jump around to. The soft rock of “A Car That Sped” sees the guitar get turned up on the chorus. A trick that “Your Love, It Lies” does as well. “Sleep Well Tonight” has the non-threatening lyric of “sleep well tonight/tomorrow we fight”, an anthem for the introverts.
“Still Can’t Find the Phone” slightly changes the style to a light, country/folk feel that is really quite good. The softer title track adds a bit of strings as Rossiter sings, “I wanted to be there with you/For I, can only be normal with you”. A lyric that teenagers and twentysomethings, and even those of us older, can relate to as we try to figure out the world with our partners. Listening 30 years later, Olympian is a fun romp through some fine second tier literary guitar pop.
7.5/10
The Light Appears 