The Goo 1
FEB '25 Bren Berry - In Hope Our Stars Align - Jo
hn Brereton Formerly a guitarist with 90’s psychedelia tinged power-pop outfit Revelino, Berry has finally picked up his axe again and delivered an album that surprises and enchants at every turn. For a self confessed non writer of songs he’s done a sterling job here and the record skips along with an engaging confidence and some wonderfully produced and arranged tunes. Berry’s recent health scare provides the lyrics with a glowing optimism and his love for his wife and family shine through at every given opportunity especially in the doo wop influenced soul of ‘We Have It All’, a song that was earmarked for non inclusion but thankfully was left in, providing the record with some of it’s tenderest moments. The song that kickstarted the project is ‘Winter Song’, the track where Berry says ‘I found my voice, my way to sing” and it’s positioned mid album, pivoting the record with his Cohen like vocal delivery, his romanticism and subtle string arrangements, courtesy of Cormac Curran and the Orphan Quartet. Currans arrangements illuminate throughout but his work on ‘Knives (Heavy Metal Rain)’ is superb and redolent of David Campbells stunning arrangements on his son Beck’s Sea Change album, principally ‘Paper Tiger’. Singles ‘Beautiful Losers’, ‘Bulletproof’ and ‘Neon Lights’ showcase Berrys resolute side, gritty tunes, choc a bloc with chiming guitars and pointed lyrics while album closer ‘Black Satellite’ (and my highlight) was written as a paean to Bob Dylan on his 80th birthday and brings the record to a rewarding end. A great debut. Unstuck - Songs from Part Two: Part Two - Ethan Golding Having stood slightly to the left of the zeitgeist thus far Unstuck have closed out 2024 by making the point that anyone can sound like Pavement, but not just anyone can decide not to sound like Pavement… The Nightime Yang to Songs from Part Two: Part One’s Daytime Ying, Songs from Part Two: Part Two is the second EP of 2024 from Wexford trio Unstuck. Growing up playing together and filling their heads with each and every flavour of alternative rock the 90s has to offer, Unstuck are one of those bands that write pop songs disguised as gangly, angular rock music. Normally, beneath the sprinting vocals and mischievous production decisions there lies astute, thoughtful pop songs; normally. Songs From Part Two: Part Two does away with the disguise, or maybe it’s more accurate to say Part Two isn’t wearing a disguise. One or two tracks aside, Part One and Ointment? EP (the band’s previous two releases) refuse to fully embrace the languid, slacker side of alternative rock that give the genre it’s critical acclaim, an acclaim that leads to the eventual hegemony of underground music scenes that cause bands to struggle to stand out. Part Two wryly smiles its way through its 5 tracks. Bandcamp era Car Seat Headrest, Pavement, Built To Spill and even Northern Irish trio Careerist (fka Hot Cops) lend their sound to Unstuck Season 2’s final testament. It’s a playfully defiant way to end the year from a playfully defiant band. Here’s to 2025 and songs from part 3 part one. Search Results - Hot Night EP - Ethan Golding You want to hear something that sounds ineffably Irish but utterly non-traditional? Switch on Search Results’ latest release Hot Night EP. Redefining Irish identity is a hot topic at the moment with many bands from both the Republic and from Northern Ireland garnering attention the worldover, shining an ever hotter spotlight on Irish artists. To say that Irish identity is being redefined is a lofty statement and given the varying quality of this redefining by artists who are sure to be gracing the Grammys (this may be the closest thing to a disapproving Fontaines quote anyone is likely to get) it’d be unfair of me to say that Search Results’ music is a redefinition. And yet… What I will say is there is mischief in the music of Search Results. Their debut album Information Blip fills my head with the same colours as the writing of Flann O’Brien so there must be something intrinsically Irish going on beyond accents, geography and surface level politics. The arrhythmia inducing drum & bass, the enigmatic vocals and recalcitrant guitars are all still there but there’s a little something extra. Perhaps it comes with the confidence of releasing a staggeringly good debut album but the tracks on Hot Night EP suggest a far meatier dish could be on the menu for the band’s sophomore release, something that assuages any fears that Search Results are a one trick pony. As good as that trick may be, it’s important for band’s, especially ones who have gotten such high praise, to take risks, try something a little different; the EP is the perfect medium for this and in my humble, humble opinion, this EP hits the mark repeatedly over the course of its 7 tracks. There’s even a 10+ minute track. How great is that! 17