If I sat down to write a Gomez song, what would it sound like?

When I first heard Gomez play their song "Sweet Virginia" live, I was absolutely convinced that they had set out to write a Neil Finn (of Split Enz and Crowded House fame; also an accomplished solo artist) song.

I'm listening to The Redwalls (I'm stuck on them and Spoon, who tore me from my Cat Power jag), and they have lots of songs that sound like other people: John Lennon and the rest of the Beatles, David Bowie, Mott the Hoople. And they rock. (You'd dig 'em, Diablo.) It's great -- rather than being derivative, it seems like in aping the original, the young whippersnappers pay homage, extend, and reveal the influence of the original artist.