Made up of some of Ireland’s finest session musicians, who have played with artists ranging from Damien Rice and Paddy Casey to Sister Sledge and the Bee Gees, the Carnival Saloon have as the pre-eminent Tom Waits tribute act in the country. Waits’ shadow looms large over …Are Going To Hell, the band’s debut album of original material. His influence is particularly noticeable in the vocals of John Paul Laffan, whose singing voice bears an uncanny resemblance to the Californian’s.
Lyrically, too, the album is highly reminiscent of Waits, with its portrayals of seedy characters and general weirditude. Indeed, if there’s a problem with …Are Going To Hell, it’s that at times The Carnival Saloon are so heavily indebted to Waits that they completely lose all trace of their own identity. Still, as you would expect from such an accomplished group of musicians, the band’s explorations of jazz, blues and Vaudeville are never less than expertly handled, while their detours into avant garde territory are equally impressive.
Best of all are the wailing, guitar-driven ‘Jailhouse’, the beautiful country rhythms of ‘Stars’ and the death letter blues of ‘I Wanna Kill John’. The Carnival Saloon will undoubtedly need to derive more carefully in future, but …Are Going To Hell is still a very promising debut.