As The House of Love was moving out, Martin Rossiter was being drafted as the singer of what was left of Spin. Renaming themselves Gene, they became the darlings of the press - fed by a supporting spot for the re-awakening Pulp - while taking a lot of flack for Rossiter's obvious adoration of Morrissey. Nicknamed the "Rozzster", Martin's wobbling croon and the lushly intricate production of Gene's 1995 debut album, "Olympian", sounded like a logical progression from The Smiths' "Strangeways Here We Come" album. The strength of their b-sides also contributed to the Smiths comparisons and their very own version of "Hatful of Hollow", "To See The Lights", would be released and would be almost as successful as their first album.
"Fighting Fit" was released at the end of '96 as teaser for the upcoming album, "Drawn To The Deep End", and it seldom left my stereo. Muscular, flexed, and in a hurry, "Fighting Fit" was the moment that Gene began to depend less on the influence of Morrissey, and focus on being Gene.
All these years later, I still get a rush from those opening chords and, it's that rush I need today, which is why it's todays earworm.
All the Gene studio albums released on Polydor are now out of print in the US but the "As Good As It Gets" compilation includes many of the bands best moments.
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