Sinister: carried away on irsh bands

[gateau du wizz]

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.




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