Issued a year after The Wedding Present disbanded, Va Va Voom saw David Gedge, with his then partner Sally Murrell, swap no-frills indie for a harmonious blend of Burt Bacharach-inspired orchestral pop, acoustic ballads and the less boorish end of Britpop: Me Next echoes Pulp at their most sardonic, while Kerry Kerry has the debonair touch of The Divine Comedy. Including a live version recorded at Gedge’s At The Edge Of The Sea festival, this 25th anniversary reissue proves it’s aged far more gracefully than much of the Cool Britannia crowd.
Jon O’Brien