Liam Gallagher John Squire
★★★★
Liam Gallagher John Squire
PARLOPHONE. CD/DL/LP
Oasis singer and Stone Roses guitar whiz become the Fab Two.
This Manc super-duo album poses a fascinating question: were some of the ideas here originally for the third Roses LP that never was? No one’s letting on, yet Gallagher fits effortlessly in his hero Ian Brown’s shoes, his quartz-edged voice the perfect plating for Squire’s roving Physical Graffiti guitar gymnastics set atop melodious, mid-Beatles-y songs. Sometimes, as on Mother Nature’s Song, we’re back in the Roses’ chiming Mersey Paradise; elsewhere, as with Just Another Rainbow and I’m Bored, the Fabs are mercilessly plundered (namely, Rain and Paperback Writer). What’s really interesting is hearing Liam being stretched stylistically, most notably on the bluesy rocker I’m A Wheel, a close cousin of Wings’ Let Me Roll It, though the real joy comes with his voicing Squire’s nastiest lyrics – “You should have fucked me when you had a chance” being the prize exhibit. Too much fun to be a one-off.