jessica - yikes....cool irish bands include: a house an emotional fish aslan something happens the stunning engine alley john holmes experience the fountainhead virgin prunes thin lizzy the undertones / fergal sharkey the pogues microdisney / fatima mansions the harvest ministers the frank & walters blink into paradise hinterland brian the fat lady sings the coletranes the catchers the floors divine comedy the golden horde the forget me nots luka bloom's "the accoustic motorbike" is *so* worth checking out. gawd, i used to follow the stunning (galway) around when i when to school...i was kind of obsessed with the singer steve wall....they released a mini album in 1990 called "paradise in the picture house" which is fairly difficult to get outside of the homeland but is definately worth tracking down for the title track alone...gorgeous melancholy lyrics sung by the honey-sweet tawny voice of sexy sir steve wall. ah, memories! a house (dublin) released one of my favourite albums ever, one of the most original and under-rated bands ever...definately get a copy of "i am the greatest"...their other stuff is very hit and miss - but IATG is a safe bet. i hear they broke up last year and the singer, dave couse, is working on a project with briana corrigan (who used to be in the beautiful south when they were good). engine alley were a band of kilkenny freakazoids who released a decent album in 1992 called "a sonic holiday" which had a great lead single called "mrs winder"....they had to go through all the typical bullshit irish bands do...the obvious "next huge thing" pressure etc. anyhow, it looks like their record company dropped them 'cause i haven't heard anything of them since that album was released....oh YES I HAVE - they had an excellent single called "switch" which i don't have a copy of. that single was bloody brilliant come to think of it. canice, the lead singer, was a bit hot actually and when he sang "switch" he pronounced the word "radio" like "ray jo" in the cutest possible way. bless his little heart. that single came out in '94ish....but that was it. the band themselves looked as if they were modelled on early split enz (ooooh boys in make up - how *daring*!). it was really sad - everytime they appeared on tv they all wore exactly the same thing...i understand the need for consistency but their record company just (what we call in ireland) "mean cavan bastards" something happens looked like bon jovi. (i think they were from dublin)...they released a nice album called "struck together with gods glue"...and followed up with some dreadful rocker album with a chicken on the cover (AVOID AT ALL POSSIBLE COSTS!!)...they got back on form at the end of '94 and released "cc incidentally" and i have no idea what happened then. the forget me nots were *gorgeous* sisters and released one of my fave irish singles "so good"...they released an album called "hullabaloo" which had it moments but didn't have me popping open bottles of bubbly with excitement as it's title might suggest. an emotional fish were dubbed u2 wanna-bes because they were on the mother label initially. they released a huge single called "celebrate" which was kinda cool and their debut album (an emotional fish") has some lovely sweet songs on it like "julian" and "lace virginia". nice. went awry on the follow up album and were dropped (i think) by mother. third album was such a change in direction...they became indie rockers and shopped in second hand stores....released a gorgeous & *fabu* single called "times on the wall" (or something like that) and i've heard nothing since...that was '95ish i think. into paradise were another one of my fave bands...i was so upset when they split up....they played a farewell show at the rock garden on crown alley. they had a beautiful single "why don't you". john holmes experience were a teeny weeny band who had a great song about a girl who had "perfect nails". ah, the hits hurt. the catchers have a new album out...i had forgotten they existed because the last time i saw them they supported a house at the garage in london - 1994 - i guess i had a crush on alice lemon. she had enormous boobs i remember. and a too-small top. saw the new album in rough trade the other day and nearly fell over. i will purchase when i hear something about it. the floors were from carlow and released a mini-album on the setanta label ("truths and distortions") which is worth hearing for (a guesting) maria mckee singing the line "oooh i love your ears, i love your eyes....c'mon let's rip her to shreads!" heh heh...they recorded some sessions on the dave fanning radio (ray jo) show...one track was called "thanks, i'm speechless" and was so yummy and showed off david donoghue's amazingly under-rated song writing skill. the fat lady sings released the single "arclight" about four times before it became a hit. it's such an uplifting song...has the lines "shine like a book that's never been read, burn like a saint who knows he's right"....the album "twist" was eventually released and had some appaling tunes ("gravy train" being the main offender IMHO) on it but "be still" (later recorded by sinead, peter gabriel and some other famous celebrity types with heads up their own arses for the "peace together" movement), "dronning maud land" and "arclight" made up for it. it's worth owning. avoid the follow up "johnson"...the band were supposed to play on st patrick's night in 1994 at the mean fiddler in london but suddenly broke up and nick kelly (the singer) went back to being a lawyer....i think he released a solo album this year but i haven't heard it. the golden horde were another really great irish group...they released the most *fabu* single ever in the history of all humanity (ish) called "friends in time"...which was a duet with maria mckee (she gets around this chick, non?). simon carmody, the singer, is a bit of a glam merchant and i think i crushed on him for a while too despite the fact he looks like the arse end of a bus. i think they only released one album and it is so great! it has that amzing single i just mentioned and other toons like "paula" and "house of girls"...one of the tracks on the album has the line "that girl is like a coca-cola bubble bursting in my head"....ah the hits hurt indeed. i wonder if they are still together. they are a great live band. the virgin prunes were kinda original for an irish band and released a great album which i can't remember in the early 80's....sounds really kitch now tho'. they were fronted by gavin friday who had since released a couple of solo albums and had a minor hit single with "falling off the edge of the world" (which had maria mckee on it as well - such a musical slut!) which is a gorgeous song....however, gavin thinks of himself as a bit of an innovator / mover and shaker on the irish music scene....he gets a lot of mileage out of the u2 associations (he went to school with bono and the edge). i saw him perform once and the whole thing was so pretentious i just had to laugh. picture it: an irish man sitting on a stool on a darkened stage with only his face lit from below, smoking a cigarette in between reeling off shite lyrics about how he is a tortured soul...eeeeEEEeek! i forgot to mention the slicked back oily black hair, and the "i am so cool, i could be serge gainsbourg" tone. a horrible man who will one day surely have his comeuppance. everyone knows the pogues, hothouse flowers etc etc. the other night i was soooo smashed and wanted to track down shane mcgowan in a pub near the angel....i knew he drinks there coz i saw him a few times before. under the affluence of incohol (dilliberate error proof-readers!), and under dare by my pal will, i went up to have a chat with shane. and stayed with him until i was kicked out at closing time. it so sad - i am such a star fucker. damn. just can't help myself. blink were a group from dublin who sounded like nobody else from ireland at the time. i'm not sure if they are still together or if they ever released an album but "going to nepal" was a great single. they had other similiarly fab singles but never had a huge hit. damn. brian have just re-released their debut album which is really great. they have the greatest song ever (no mediocrity with me!) called "understand". i hope this is useful to you....i hope you'll love ireland - galway is my favourite city but dublin is really buzzing also - i try to go every few months. nearer the time pri.mail me and we'll organise a meet up. if you want some reccommendations on contemporary irish writers: john mackenna (a year on our lives), joe o'connor (secret world of the irish male, desperados, play: red roses and petrol), colm toibin (heather blazing, the story of night). lady penelope, gateau du wizz. _________________________________________________________ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". 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