Ian McCulloch: Holy Ghost /Pro Patris Mori

Ahead of the imminent appearance of Echo and the Bunnymen at Dublin’s Camden Crawl, Mac the Mouth is back with not one but two albums – a live recording of Bunnymen classics at Islington’s Union Chapel twinned with a sister record of new solo material.

While Holy Ghost will be a treat for hardcore Bunny lovers, it suffers from live album syndrome in that it sounds great but, divorced from its original context, becomes a rather indulgent exercise.
Pro Patris Mori is different. Opener ‘Different Trees’ shows Mac has not lost his knack for penning a big song with big emotions – drenched, of course, in marvelously melodramatic strings. Good stuff...

Key Track: ‘Bring On The Dancing Horse’