This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
If you ask me, this organ-fuelled Britrock quintet have been kicking Oasis’s butt for years. But for some reason, they still can’t get arrested in North America.
With any luck, Us And Us Only will fix that. Opening track Forever has all the swirly groove of Kula Shaker, without the offputting hippie mysticism. Other tracks have all the Lennon & McCartneyism of anything the brothers Gallagher have churned out. But the lads add something new to the mix — a heavy dose of Bob Dylan’s work with The Band, conjured up in the ringing guitars, churning B-3, raspy vocals and honking harmonica of grandly powerful songs like A House Is Not A Home. Don’t let the name fool you; The Charlatans are the real deal.
