In 1990, Ride were in the first wave of the Shoegazing scene to get out of the blocks and into the studio to record their iconic debut EP. Four albums and a sack load of EPs and singles later, however, they called it a day and the four lads from Oxford slouched off to join Oasis, the Jesus and Mary Chain, put out solo records and, in bassist Steve Queralt’s case, to take up a career in retail at Habitat. And that seemingly was that. However, in 2015 fate intervened and the Coachella Festival came calling with the offer to get back together in front of a crowd of 70,000.
Weather Diaries is Ride’s first album since reforming, and their first since 1996’s somewhat underwhelming Tarantula, and it is clear they are very happy as a living band again and not just purveyors of nostalgia. Nevertheless, sunny, psychedelic guitar pop with softly sung tunes and trippy grooves are still the sounds of choice for Ride, and they hit serious highs here with the summery “Cali” and the Motor City-guitar powered “Lateral Alice” that will have their old fans beaming.
Weather Diaries isn’t just about Mark Gardener and Andy Bell slightly tweaking their old sound, though. “Weather Diaries” and “Rocket Silver Symphony” even throw a bit of prog rock into the mix, while “Impermanence” has more than a slight hint of what Oasis might have sounded like if they’d kept off the cocaine and tried a more psychedelic fuel. In fact, while Weather Diariesis clearly the work of the same Ride of almost 30 years ago, there certainly hasn’t been any reluctance to take on new sounds among the floaty guitar lines. It’s just a shame that the effects-peddle-powered feedback side of their first go-round seems to have been banished to history.
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