Album Review: Engine Alley, Showroom

Engine Alley stood out, in a good way, back in the early ’90s. At odds with the end of raggle-taggle and the rise of grunge, the Alley seemed to exist in a more enticing, day-glo, Bowie-soundtracked universe. They had the tunes, and Canice Kenealy looked good in lipstick. That said, lost albums are usually lost for a good reason. This missing piece, however, had always been whispered about, by those lucky enough to hear it, as something special. They were right.

It’s the result of two recording sessions – one in late ‘92, and one in ‘96, although the songs were all written in between the bright pop of A Sonic Holiday (‘92) and the more shadowy and subdued Shot In The Light (‘95). There’s been some rejigging and re-recording, but not much.

Instantly infectious fare like ‘No Guitar’, ‘Fool’ and the marvellous ‘Astronaut’ could have easily followed the likes of ‘Infamy’ and ‘Mrs Winder’ up the charts fadó. In fact, you’d have to wonder what unfortunate series of events denied us them in the first place. ‘Car On Fire’, ‘Clocks’ and ‘Pictureshow’ are built around the shiny glam/trash flourishes that originally earned them notice, before the affair mellows with ‘A Valuable Lesson’ and ‘Darkness Divisible’. Kenealy likens the top-heavy sequencing to Big Star’s #1 Record, but this is still Engine Alley, so there’s a bit of varispeed, book-celebrating daftness in ‘Mobile Library’ before the finishing melancholia of ‘Songchaser’.

When measured against much of Irish “rock”, then and now, it’s baffling this never saw the light of day, back in the day. But at least it’s finally here. Inventive, fun, and very, very good.

8/10

https://open.spotify.com/album/7MIP84G1WNomUCMI7RHGRH?si=nAnIzZf6RNaFQZiT8lAgMw