Liam Gallagher and John Squire have finally dropped their first track off their upcoming collaboration and it’s even more nostalgically Manc-sounding than we could have hoped for.
The former Oasis frontman and iconic ex-Stone Roses guitarist revealed they had been working together towards the end of 2023, which immediately piqued the interest of Mancunians, Britpop die-hards and rock and roll fans in general.
Being two of the biggest music legends to have ever come out of the UK, let alone just Manchester, there were a lot of eyes (and ears) on this project and Gallagher himself didn’t exactly play it down by declaring that “it’s going to be the best record since Revolver” by The Beatles.
Now, while we’re not going to vouch for such a bold claim after just one track, we have now heard ‘Just Another Rainbow’ for the very first time and are now feeling pretty confident that fans are going to get the exact kind of vibe they were hoping for.
From the familiar sonics of that thick, distorted, almost drowning and quintessentially John Squire guitar sound and the low but steady bassline in the background, you’d genuinely be forgiven for mistaking this for a Stone Roses tune.
Then the instantly recognisable vocals of LG come in, who sings in arguably the best register we’ve heard him in post-Oasis times, and it feels like a marriage of some of the most unmistakable Manc music signatures that you can’t help but reminisce to and enjoy for what it is.
For balance, Squire is undoubtedly the star of the show, not only with the groove that scores the song throughout but also an interesting breakdown down in the bridge that allows for snare-driven drums to break through but an old-school solo that you’d expect from one of the best leads Britian’s ever seen.
Meanwhile, it’s fair to say that Liam’s lyricism still isn’t on a par with Noel and this certainly isn’t his strongest effort — hearing him literally recite the colours of the rainbow on first listen was a bit surreal, to say the least — but it’s by no means bad and the simplicity almost highlights shine.
Although the Gallagher brothers made no secret of their love for The Beatles and the influence they had on their own music (pretty much like everyone else), we don’t think you’ll find much in the way of Revolver-esque similarities but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t go on to be just as succinct a record.
Having already proclaimed Squire as “the best guitarist of his generation and in the world in my opinion”, it looks fairly likely that he’s going to let his songwriting skills and psychedelic guitar-playing breathe as much as possible on this new album, whatever it ends up sounding like in full.
There’s no release date for this joint album as yet, nor is there a title, but all we will say is that we like what we’ve heard so far.
We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but this pseudo-‘Stone Rosasis’ project could end up being very, very good.
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Featured Image — Liam Gallagher/John Squire (via Instagram)/Tom Oxley