From somewhere outside Dublin, come the small army who make up the Mad Shadows. Reaching almost football team proportions, the MSs feature trombone, saxophone, trumpet and keyboards as well as the usual suspect devices. David Holland is the main man, writing the words and music for the group. Their three track demo opens with ‘(Going To) Liverpool’. Its an up-tempo track, a boisterous, joyful pop song that’s dominated by organ and brass stabs. ‘My Baby’s Natural Magic’ has a great mid ’60s Stax sound to it, which is unfortunately, a little over ambitious for Holland’s vocals. He’s not a bad singer but he sounds a bit out of his league here.
The big breezy pop of ‘The Wind and the Rain’ closes the tape. The Mad Shadows have a great sound which is only marginally let down by Holland’s vocals. A little more work required, me thinks . . .
Flying Man are a four-piece funk rock band from Dungannon, Co. Tyrone. The band are brothers, Sean and Feargal Quinn (rhythm/guitar, vocals/bass respectively), Martin Cormac (lead guitar) and Peter Faloon (drums). They have played a lot locally and have received excellent reviews for their powerful live shows.
This three-song demo opens with the anthemic ‘Rain Dance’. This starts on a funky rhythm section and a chanted vocal line. The song is highly melodic, utilising backing vocals and a catchy chant piece which surfaces throughout the song. It’s odd but it works quite well. ‘Part of Life’ opens with a deftly slapped bass and a steady mid-tempo rhythm. It has a good melody which leads into a very strong chorus. ‘Semi-naked Male’ has a great lyric and an almost Beatley turn in the chord structure and chorus. All told, Flying Man play incredibly well together as a group and on the strength of these performances, I would say their live notices were fully warranted.
The enchantingly named Snatch are a five piece noise pop/rock guitar outfit from Cork. They appeared on the Cork leg of the Rollercoaster Tour. The band were also selected to play in Nancy Spain’s for the IMRO/Hot Press showcase gig there. Their Shanes T-Shirt demo opens with ‘Pop Chick’, and it’s straight down to business. The singer’s rasping, gnarly vocals are a perfect complement to the spiky, insistent guitars. Smashing stuff! ‘Without Sin’ hammers in next and, here, duelling guitarists play off each other with panache, over the rock solid rhythm. ‘Victim Child’ is slow and heavy as befits the lyrical content. Punny title aside, ‘Snatch and Grab’ is a cracker. Painfully catchy guitar riffs, machine gun drum rolls and a strong melody – what more can I say? ‘Inside’ cools down the pace and has an almost – hold on to your hat – sensible feel to it! Once again, the guitarists display their unerring sense of melody and in this case, restrained power. ‘Girlfriend’ closes the tape in a Doorsey blues way. With material like this and the ability to bash it out live, Snatch might soon find themselves on Shanes T-Shirt!!
Finally, for this issue, the return of Stoat. As you may remember, Stoat are Cormac Parle – vocals, bass and drum programming and John Hearn – vocals, guitar and drum programming. This is their second demo and it opens with ‘Telephone Call to America’. This mid-tempo tune sounds like a cross between mid-’60s Kinks and the contemporary Indie crowd. The melody is strong and it ambles past in a pleasant way. ‘I am the 1’ merits grungey guitars which perfectly complement the macabre lyric. The duo seem to be brimful with ideas but pathetically short on cash, as the recordings major shortcoming is the quality, which is frankly, not very good! ‘Hypenotised’ (sic) is slow paced with a great minor chord feel to it. The melody is catchy and here, thanks to the sympathetic rhythm track and rather fine bass playing, the overall sound is good. Tripping lightly off the tongue, we have ‘The Waltz of The Frumious Bandersnatch’ – undoubtedly winning the coveted incomprehensible title of the fortnight award. Of course its no joke, as the verse come in on waltz time. The lads bemoan the lack of herbal medication over what could be described as a chronic soundscape.
I think someone should give these lads loads of money to go to the studio. Then we’ll be able to make a full assessment of their condition. n
• Don’t forget to tune into the City Limits Youth Affairs show on Anna Livia Radio, 103·8 FM, Dublin, this Saturday (and every other!) from 10am — 12 noon for the complete low-down.