Paradise Regained

Lest we forget, we’ve been here before with this whole golden age of Irish music haven’t we? Just ask Steve and Joe Wall. The Stunning pretty much did it all first time around, in this country at least. Paradise In The Picturehouse, their debut, was the first Irish debut album to go to number one and stayed there for five weeks. As Steve points out in his sleeve notes, it meant a lot to a lot of people. And now it, and The Stunning, are back – albeit for a limited period only. If you were one of those who thrilled to this first time round, chances are that this reissue will leave you all dewy eyed and nostalgic. But if you weren’t? ‘Brewing Up A Storm’ we all know. Its status as a guaranteed dancefloor filler now untouchable and sure to cause a riot at their forthcoming gigs. It has weathered remarkably well, as has the rest of the album. ‘Romeo’s On Fire’ and ‘Got To Get Away’ follow on a similar theme, sounding unavoidably like much of the earnest, passionate Irish rock music that abounded at the time. With a line-up that expanded to seven different instrumentalists, however, the Stunning were able to pull a little extra out of the bag. ‘This Happy Girl’ and ‘Half Past Two’ are both charming little things, the brass flourishes betraying a musical awareness that stretched beyond the standard rock format. That becomes more evident as the album shifts gear in the second half, adopting a more acoustic feel. ‘An Empty Feeling’ is almost like stepping into a time machine, portraying a Dublin before the café culture, 24 hour society and buzzing nightlife took root. ‘Town For Sale’, meanwhile, displays the same loving eye for detail, this time for life outside the capital. It finishes with the chilling, solo ‘Men Without Souls’, a withering attack on an unnamed culture of violence. Far more than just a nostalgia trip then, but still it’s good to know where you’ve been. Time now to concentrate on where these particular brothers are going.