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Pugwash - 11 Modern Antiquities
I have to admit to feeling nervous reviewing this album. I really wanted it to be a classic, but was fearful that it will merely retread already well worn ground that has been exhausted on Almanac and Jollity. To an extent this is true of this album, but Thomas Walsh has almost written a Greatest Hits package on this album alone. He has taken the best elements from his previous canon of immensely impressive work and included them all on one album. In my review of Jollity I said that album was his ?Face The Music?. This is ?A New World Record?. In other words my first impressions are that this is the best yet from Pugwash, which means it is very very good indeed. This album is lighter in mood than Jollity and deeper than Alamanc, which doesnit in itself mean much ? Just that it is different whilst retaining all that is great about Pugwash.
1.Take Me Away – A classic Pugwash track. An instant classic and a perfect opening single. Thomas Walsh doesn’t really write singles, but this one had me humming immediately. It is a cross between a Pugwash song, some XTC, Traveling Wilburys and the obvious Beach Boys bit in the middle. A good start.
2.Cluster Bomb – At first I thought this is a retread of Black Dog but not to be as the song develops into a deceptively simple and complex song at the same time. It takes real skill to craft a song like this. This is almost like a Buddhist chant, with some wonderful strings. The harp and glockenspiel give this song an almost transcendental quality (back to Buddhism). Simply wonderful.
3.Here – ELO ELO ELO. Not hard to spot the influence on this song. This is going to bug me for days trying to spot where Walsh has cogged this from. The truth is, of course, that not unlike Jeff Lynne (with whom Walsh cannot escape comparison along with Lennon & McCartney and any other skillful tunesmith one cares to mention) Walsh has the ability to write a song that sounds so immediately familiar that one feels he pinched it. A classic.
4.It’s So Fine – When an artist comes to the point that he is stealing from himself you know he has reached a defining moment. This is theft in the best possible sense. The lunacy of ?Almanac? is back. For me the best song so far. If anything this takes the best the Idle Race had to offer and improves on it, which is bloody hard. Addictive.
5.Song For You – Simply a celebration of life. Wonderful. Classic Pugwash. Has all the elements that makes Walsh a great writer.
6.My Genius – Another song that is destined to annoy me. There are so many musical references in it that I am going to spend ages figuring them out. It has a jazz club feel. At this point I feel this album is just getting better and better. A wonderful end ? pure Idle Race.
7.Limerance – Beatles, is the immediate reaction the oepning. Then the song does something unexpected it goes off on its own original little journey. Not a good song for the car, as one is tempted to close one?s eyes and daydream along to this. Has a little bit of Take Me On and On but is much much better. Wonderful guitar play in the middle. Also a bit of Hey Jude creaps in towards the end, at least in spirit.
8.Your Friend – Initial reaction to the opening ?Hell this album just gets better and better?. Another single perhaps. Reminds me a bit of Nice to be Nice. Also there is some pure Idle Race- ?Follow Me Follow? perhaps. Pretty close to melodic and lyrical perfection.
9.The Cannon and the Bell – A complete change of pace. This is effectively an instrumental, a rarity on a Pugwash album. Great fun with the vocoder and strings. Not earth shattering but a nice change of pace.
10.At the Sea – More Almanac type madness. Initial reaction? Plenty of XTC here. Then I checked the credits. Andy Partridge. His influence is felt, all to the good. Full of quirky twiddly bits, whistling and great musicianship. Reminds me of Squeeze at their best. Kind of? Cool For Cats? 2008.
11.Lansdowne Valley – I had been waiting for this song. I loved the idea of it so much and was worried I wouldn’t like it. Being the same age as Thomas I have nostalgic memories of Dublin in the 1970s. It works. A Penny Lane for Dublin but from a child’s perspective. Serious flashback time for me. Somehow the song reflects my feelings. The triumphs and disasters of childhood. What I love is the pride shown in his roots. As it should be. I loathe people who reinvent themselves and deny where they are from. This is a celebration of childhood and origins and is wonderful for it. The end is of course typically exhausting.
Well Done. This is the best yet. I didn’t think it would be possible to improve on Almanac and Jollity. This album takes their strongest aspects and has crafted (this is crafted intelligent stuff folks) a classic. Only problem, I am going to be seriously worried for the next one.
Maurice D
(Online Review)