Ride: Smile (Creation)
Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 9 January 1993
PERHAPS MORE than any of their contemporaries, Ride encapsulate all that is right and wrong with the English music scene as she now is, or at least has been in the two-odd years since the eight tracks on Smile first saw light of day on Ride's ferociously acclaimed first two EPs. The case for — and probably the clinching argument that this soggy NATO runway of a country is the healthiest environment for new music on the planet — is largely to do with its vibrancy, its fluidity. That a band like Ride can — as Ride, indeed, did — progress from their parents' garages to the rarefied heights of the Gallup album charts in 18 months can only be good for everyone. Right?
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