The Goo 1
JAN '25 ALICIA SMITH / DESMOND TRAYNOR / BILLY O’
HANLUAIN / AARON KAVANAGH / DAVID CARR human honesty act as a lit torch shining light on anxieties and control. The element of fight in these elegiac songs mirrors the visceral communications of ‘The Virgin Prunes’ and Friday has good form when it comes to standing up for himself. He has always used his musical creativity and lateral thinking as his means of attrition. Lucky listeners. & co inhabit blissfully and is arguably the albums finest song, along with the beautiful ‘Waiting For The Sun’. ‘The Black Church’ is a scuzzed up menace, the production aping the local myth of “If you run around The Black Church three times, you’ll meet the devil” while providing the band an ideal opportunity to wig out at the end. A very fine record indeed. last six minutes as the lads let rip, motorik style to bring the album to a thrilling end. More of this kind of stuff please. Niall Thomas - False Tide - Paul Fitzpatrick The much loved Dubliner releases his third solo album and if honest, guitar driven tunes are your bag you are in for a treat here. Thomas is a superb guitarist and here he has teamed up with drummer Mick Cronin and bassist (and album producer) Karl Odlum to form a razor sharp combo that do the songs justice at every turn. Lead single ‘Best Of Intentions’ and ‘Not That Way’ kick off the record in style, punching hard on a song pairing that sees the three piece giving it socks. ‘Witching Hour’ and ‘Mercury’ are quieter affairs as Thomas picks up his trusty acoustic guitar to change mood and pace while ‘Sunrise’ sees the Dublin 7 native go full on instrumental, his stunning guitar playing driving a riff that Ry Cooder would die for. ‘Where We Begin’ throws up a host of tender moments underpinned by motifs and arrangements straight out of Americana territory that Messrs Stipe Shane O’Neill & Dave Long - whoiwasandwhatiam - Paul Fitzpatrick The dastardly duo of Churchtown return with awholedifferentkettleoffish on their new platter and it reeks quality. A specially commissioned piece by The Source Arts Centre in Thurles, it's a one track, 39 minute piece of ambient music that’s as evocative as anything from Eno’s musical canon. Starting off with ambient synths and treated piano, the mood changes around the five and a half minute mark when fuzzy guitars give the track a rhythmic avenue to explore. Things get groovy after ten minutes as a teasing beat veers in and around a hesitant bass line, punctuated by some nifty guitar lines before disappearing into a haze of whoosh. The whirr of automation signals another change at seventeen minutes and through various tempo changes and subtle movements in instrumentation we arrive at the grand finale for the Dilettante - Life of The Party - David Carr Dillettante is Francesca Pigeon but you may better know her for her multiinstrument work with BC Camplight. Here, center stage, the workload does not abate, providing 90% of the vocals and instrumentation, her true character is revealed. Opening track ‘Fun’ is immediately at odds with itself. Francesca sings “I’m not having any fun” over and over but it’s wrapped in such a convivial sound you’re immediately smiling and tapping your toes. She lightly addresses her battles with mental health “Don’t worry I’m just having a breakdown” perhaps because so many people out there are suffering, but regrettably having to get on with it. ‘Easy Does It’ brings to mind the quirky delivery of St Vincent and played in unconventional keys giving it a dreamlike quality. ‘Stone’ is jazz pop excellence, though is it a coincidence that the most revealing line is buried deepest in the mix? “Well our love is like a stone, it’s a solemn baritone, No matter how many seeds I sow, Well a pebble cannot grow”. Open but guarded at the same time. ‘To Make Me Good’ is the first nonPAGE 17