Ocean Colour SceneA Hyperactive Workout For The Flying SquadReview

Patience has been a keyword for all fans of Ocean Colour Scene throughout their 15-year career - but those that have survived mediocre albums Mechanical Wonder (2001) and North Atlantic Drift (2003) - have been rewarded with A Hyperactive Workout For The Flying Squad. And while the Birmingham modsters' seventh studio album is not as instantly commercially accessible as their breakthrough second offering Moseley Shoals, it is certainly a return to form.

One must again be patient, however,as this is one of those albums that is a definite 'grower'. Three covers -George Harrison's "Wah Wah", "Start Of The Day" by vastly under-rated Liverpool quartet from the early '90s The Real People and "My Time" by Bob Andy (reggae legend AKA Keith Anderson) - may suggest OCS are struggling for material. But opening track "Everything Comes At The Right Time" dispels those theories; it's classic OCS - a fast-paced anthem with big guitars and instantly memorable chorus.

"Free My Name" (released 7 March) is the first single to be taken off the album. Aftera big intro, it leads into Simon Fowler's distinctive vocals while Steve Craddock's guitar swirls around Oscar Harrison's big beats. "I Love You" is slow and ponderous and best forgotten, but the mood is instantly lifted with the jaunty violin-driven "This Day Should Last Forever".

But "Waving Not Drowning" is by far the best track on offer here, featuring long-time OCS champion, the Modfather himself, Paul Weller on guitar and Jools Holland's piano under-pinning the track. Is Fowler paying homage to the people who have continued to believe in the band? "Call it survival...you wrote the words...you drove away our fear...drank the half glass empty." However you interpret it, "Waving Not Drowning" proves that OCS can still write fantastically uplifting songs and proves to the fans that patience is indeed a virtue.