Rum, Sodomy & The Lash

The Pogues had already started a ruckus with their debut Red Roses For Me, in which Shane MacGowan retooled Irish pub jukebox favourites and rambunctious trad in his own inimitable style. But the band’s second album, produced by Elvis Costello, showcased the singer’s extraordinary talents as a balladeer and songwriter. Songs like ‘Sally MacLennane’ and ‘A Pair Of Brown Eyes’ imbued Irish balladry with the grimy patina of the 20th century London-Irish experience. ‘The Sick Bed Of Cuchalainn’ mixed mythology with dipsomania, while ‘The Old Main Drag’ chronicled the dirty life and times of a homeless rent boy (later used to great effect over the closing credits of Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho). Rum, Sodomy & the Lash won the approbation of everyone from David Byrne to Tom Waits, who opined that the motley combo played “like sailors on shore leave.”