Whatever Eugene McGuinness’s none-more-Irish name might conjure, it’s unlikely to be a bequiffed urchin from the east end of London. But that’s how he presents. He was apparently raised on a diet of Beatles and Stones records, and while there’s nothing slavish about his second solo outing (third if you count the Eugene + The Lizards album), that ‘60s cool is embedded in its DNA. It’s a cocky, confident set of songs reminiscent of contemporaries like Miles Kane in whose band McGuinness has played, Arctic Monkeys and even Richard Hawley.
Things begin on something of a glittery note with the disco strings and rickety drum machine of ‘Harlequinade’ and ‘Sugarplum’, but it’s an odd move for a guy whose voice seems more suited to the grit and the gloom. ‘Videogame’ essays a motorik glide, but – to these ears – nowhere near as convincingly as The Horrors. The title-track shoots for grandeur and doesn’t quite get there, and even the best tune – swaggering single ‘Shotgun’ – recalls Henry Mancini’s well-thumbed ‘Peter Gunn’ theme.
The lyrics, too, manage to be impressionistic without leaving much of an impression. McGuinness might look the part, but on this evidence, he still hasn’t found his voice.