Music
20 Feb 25

Legendary Dublin band Guernica release their 'lost' 1980s album

Auditorium manages to look as good as it sounds!

'80s heroes Guernica have released their 'lost' Auditorium album on very fetching orange and red vinyl with a poster and gatefold sleeve. It features a whopping 22 tracks including Deep Sea Diving, Humming Of The Engine and Orange And Red, their Holy Trinity of singles. Their lead singer was future standup comic and Father Ted actor Joe Rooney.

Sounding not unlike Echo and The Bunnymen – there's even a mention of crocodiles in the following song – they were a potent live force and in a parralel universe are living in big mansions in Killiney.

Here's the potted history provided by the band:

"Formed in the early 80s, Guernica featured Joe Rooney (vocals), Derek Turner (guitar), Ciaran O'Sullivan (bass), Ray McCarty (keyboards, guitar) and Alan Malone (drums). They gigged regularly in Dublin at the time and in 1985 gained national recognition with several TV appearances and when their self-made video for the song ‘Americano’ received weekly airing on the RTÉ TV show MTUSA hosted by Vincent Hanley.

"The following year they released ‘Orange And Red’ their debut 12” single on the UK-based label Idol Records. The remix version of the song was a club hit in Valencia, Spain and earned the band a cult following there.

"In March 1987 Ciaran and Alan in left the band and Darragh Broe (drums) and Derek Lee (bass) were recruited. A second single ‘Deep Sea Diving’ was released on the Irish label Solid Records soon after.

"A third and final single 'Humming Of The Engine' was released in 1988. They recorded a mini album that year but it was never released as the band broke up soon after in early 1989 following a final gig at the Marquee in London."

If you're in Dublin, Auditorium can be found in Tower, Spindizzy and Freebird or you can order direct from rotatorvinyl.bandcamp.com/album/guernica-auditorium.

If you fancy going the vinyl route yourself, we've a 'how to' guide with Rotator's Peter Jones in the Music News section of the new Hot Press, in shops this week.