Avenerable adage in theatrical circles compares critics to eunuchs who work in harems. Like eunuchs, the saying goes, critics are there every night, they see it done every night - but they can't do it themselves.
Ocean Colour Scene probably feels the same way about music-scene observers - especially those of the pack-hunting British breed.
The Birmingham four-piece has had a tough time of it. Success often promotes savagery in those less able, but a particularly virulent strain seems to have been reserved for OCS and its 60s-flavoured pop-cum-rhythm 'n' blues.
Bobbing along on a swell of euphoria that buoyed the Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and The Stone Roses, OCS set sail proper in fair weather eight years ago, a record deal anchored down and their second album ready to make waves.
But it didn't take long for gale-force disapproval to blow in, and OCS soon ran aground on a reef of cynicism. The beach boys were sunk, no port in their storm; and it would be a long time before they came up for air.
Now, things are going swimmingly once again for OCS, due in town around next March, as singer-songwriter Simon Fowler explained.
