The British band Gomez was awarded the seventh annual Mercury Music Prize

in London on Wednesday night for its debut album, Bring It On, beating out the

likes of The Verve, Pulp and Massive Attack. Released earlier

this month on Virgin Records, the album goes against the Brit-pop grain by melding

country, blues, folk, funk and psychedelic rock. The Mercury Music Prize is awarded for

the "Best British Album" of the year.