Pugwash

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Perfect Pop Gems

24 April 2008

For nearly eight years now Dublin songwriter Thomas Walsh of Pugwash has been conjuring up perfect pop gems that have seen the band garner many plaudits and some all too brief stints in the charts. Sometimes you just fall head over heels in love with a record. I did so with their 2005 album, Jollity. It is gorgeous pop melodies, amorous lyrics and un-rivalled song writing took a piece of my heart which I shall never reclaim. It was like the first time I heard Revolver by the Fabs or Stanley Road by Paul Weller. Every song seemed to leap out at me proclaiming its brilliance and hitting all the right lyrical and musical funny bits. Wherever I was in my life at the time, this was my record. I would listen to it over and over again and always I found something new that I could latch onto. My first listen to their latest effort 11 Modern Antiquities threw up an interesting question. How do I begin to do justice to this remarkable piece of work? I am at pains here. In the absence of the adequate superlatives, it is a masterpiece, plain and simple. Ably assisted yet again by bass player Keith Farrell the album also features Neil Hannon, Nelson Bragg, Michael Penn and Johnny Boyle on percussion, Walsh navigates us through yet another great album. Opening this merry little shindig is Take Me Away a harmonious nugget that sounds as equally brilliant on the radio as it does on the record. All the essential Walsh song writing elements are there, the melody that emanates so naturally, the up-tempo beat, it is the perfect single. The initial crash of Cluster Bomb gives way to the luscious strings of Dave Gregory whose string arrangements on both this album and Jollity is not to be underestimated. They seem to lend an urgency to the tune, dashing up and down while embellished by the lovely ivory tinkling and backing vocals of guest Hannon from the Divine Comedy. Here is a gorgeous, love song with handsome Brian Wilson like orchestration that tells a tale of yearning and features the immortal line, Stop me finding fear in everything I see and hear. It is one of those everyman lyrics that John Lennon would pull out from time to time. It shows Walsh’s lyrical strength. He always seems to strike that chord without being too wordy. I always refer to the light and shade, diversity if you will, that any songwriter needs to be great. Walsh has it in buckets. It is not hard to hear the influence of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Jeff Lynne in his music. Many imitate, but very few make their own sound. Pugwash are a band that have. Walsh is never afraid to try new things and he moves readily between moods and tempo without ever losing momentum or the listener’s interest. This is evident on the next two tracks. Its So Fine is a sixties pop rollick while Song For You is an attractive acoustic led number that features some wonderfully subtle percussion by Boyle. Lyrically, again, on My Genius Walsh is first-rate. You fell for my genius, but my genius is out of a bottle. It’s another little belter that displays that Pugwash pop intellect so eloquently. Its instantly likeable and another example of Pugwash’s immediacy. Limerance (a study into the scientific nature of romantic love no less!) is the song I keep coming back to. The fuzzed vocals and sparkling piano are almost dream like. The backing vocals and harmonies embroider it before a wonderful guitar break (by none other than Michael Penn) and bass line take over and push it into entirely different terrain. Your Friend will surely be the next single. It’s perfect pop for the airwaves. It’s a typical Pugwash song in the vein of Its Nice to be Nice or This Could Be Good. The kind of tune that turns a bad day into a good one when it comes on. I can’t emphasise how good this album is. Go and buy it, listen… embrace… let it take over your life!

redtrackmusic.com
Rob McNamara
March 2008

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Perfect Pop Gems

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