The Goo 1
Regular PAUL MCDERMOTT (@LEARNANDSING) TO HERE KN
OWS WHEN - GREAT IRISH ALBUMS REVISITED Another Day, Another Riot by Toasted Heretic POWERFUL, ARTICULATE AND ORIGINAL Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find a review of High Bias – the Distorted History of the Cassette Tape so it’s apt that this column focuses on Toasted Heretic. When I think about cassette culture in Ireland the Galway band spring immediately to mind. Their first two releases were the cassetteonly albums Songs For Swinging Celibates (1988) and its follow-up Charm and Arrogance (1989). The former was the first purchase I ever made in Cork’s Comet Records, these were Lo-fi recordings before we used that term. Julian Gough, the band’s lead singer, agrees: “Our cassette albums were recorded cheaply but we weren’t embarrassed by them. They were Lo-fi before it was an aesthetic, it was just poverty in those days.” With Julian in Toasted Heretic were: Declan Collins and Breffni O’Rourke on guitars, Neil Farrell on drums and Aengus McMahon on bass. Q magazine once declared them “powerful articulate and original”, while Mother Records described them as, “too original”. It’s also fitting, following Sinéad O’Connor’s recent passing, that this column should focus on 1992’s Another Day, Another Riot because it’s the album that features ‘Galway and Los Angeles’ a song about a chance encounter with O’Connor and the perils of fame. It’s the song that propelled Toasted Heretic from a mailorder cottage industry to Indie darlings. It was awarded ‘Single of the Week’ in the Melody Maker and went Top 10 in the Irish Singles Chart. It’s an extraordinary autobiographical song. Julian sings: “I was in TV reception waiting for a taxi which I could not afford / When in spun you, BP and a camera crew through revolving doors / I was pale with lack of recognition / You were sick with fame, and giddy from your high position / Desperate to climb down and take a break / While I stood trembling with the need to make your mistake.” “We wrote it when we were on the edge of becoming famous and we were very nervous about it. It’s very raw and very close to being a diary entry,” says Julian. “I was in the RTÉ TV Centre reception. I was waiting for a taxi which I could not afford. When in spun Sinéad and BP Fallon. She was going one way and I was going the other. BP did get me tickets for the Late Late Show. I sat in the front row and I watched her performance. She was such a wonderful sensitive woman in an industry that wasn’t doing her any good and didn’t know how to treat her right.” “It’s about fame and a great Irish talent and artist who was trying to navigate the waters at a much deeper level than we were. She was going one way and I was going the other and we were both freaked out at the time by our own individual dramas. I really love that song.” Toasted Heretic released one more album, 1994’s Mindless Optimism, before calling it a day. Another Day, Another Riot is available on Spotify. Julian Gough is the author of a number of acclaimed novels and children’s books: “The Egg and the Rock is the name of the book I am currently writing. It is also the name of the Substack where I am writing it.” Julian Gough revisits Another Day, Another Riot on To Here Knows When – Great Irish Albums Revisited, available on all podcast platforms. Episode notes and further info: www.paulmcdermott.ie/podcast PAGE 44 SCAN CODE TO LISTEN!