Better Wraith Than Never
As their ghoulish moniker suggests The Spook Of The Thirteenth Lock aren’t a band afraid to shy away from the darker aspects of life. It all adds up to a creepily fascinating second LP.
Roisin Dwyer, 18 Apr 2012
“Fitting it on posters is sometimes a bit problematic!”, jokes multi-instrumentalist Enda Bates.
“It’s a name that nobody else is going to use! And you remember it!” chips in frontman Allen Blighe.
Hot Press is seated in a Dublin hotel chatting to two-fifths of The Spook Of The Thirteenth Lock about their unusual moniker, excellent second album The Brutal Here And Now, conquering Japan and writing songs in Italian.
“The thirteenth lock is on the Royal Canal near Lucan,” explains mainman Allen Blighe. “It’s the title of an Arthur Griffith poem that just has a certain atmosphere that we liked so we went for it.”
The outfit, who Blighe describes as ‘an Irish alternative folk rock band’, are on the cusp of releasing their second long-player, following on from 2008’s acclaimed eponymous debut which garnered rave reviews.
Blighe feels the latest effort is a more cohesive offering than its predecessor.
“I think in terms of the sound, it is more consistent throughout,” he nods. “The last album was more split into two halves between the guitar rock and then the more folkier acoustic songs. This time it is more a compromise between the two.”
The band’s rich sonic tapestries embrace folk, prog, rock, trad and a multitude of other forms. But Blighe is clear when the question of lineage is posed.
“It is carrying on a tradition from bands like The Pogues, Horslips, Thin Lizzy and going back to Planxty and the Irish take on the folk revival,” he explains. “We are fusing popular music with older traditional sounds.”
As well as Irish trad, the band were influenced by many different ethnic folk musics on their current record.
“My wife is Italian, so I spend a lot of time in Italy,” states Allen. “The Tarantella, which is folk music from the south-east of Italy, has a very interesting rhythm and a big similarity to Irish trad, and that’s an influence we wanted to bring in. We also have an interest in Indian folk music, and I suppose we would have seen how people like John Fahey would have taken Indian ragas into the blues tradition and got some very nice sounds.”
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Roisin Dwyer
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