What s in a name?

Not long ago this column outed two Irish bands called Bungalow. Now comes news of Cork-band Idahoe becoming confused with the winners of Bacardi Unplugged, Idaho, so Idahoe have since decided to change their name to Starfighter Pilot. The problem with Bungalow is understandable on account of the low profile of both bands, but given the volume of national and local publicity Idaho attracted after their Bacardi victory it is incomprehensible that the Cork outfit were not even aware of their existence.
It s often precisely that lack of awareness that causes such duplication in the first place, as many bands are so self-absorbed they have absolutely no idea what s going on in the world outside their own cocoon.
This is best summed up by a band from the Wexford-Waterford area who have has to change their name three times because the monikers they chose had already been snapped up. Had they been reading the music press or listening to the radio they would at least have heard of the other bands existence and saved themselves considerable embarrassment and, perhaps, some money too.
This may be a minor irritation for a band within in Ireland but it s even more serious when they try to break into the UK or US markets. Having already spent money on recordings, designing logos, printing posters, photos, merchandise, building up the name etc. they have to start over when somebody points out that there s already a band with the same name further up the food chain.
Perhaps the only way to avoid the duplication of names is to avoid the obvious and keep yourself informed about what s happening out there.
Solo artists don t quite have the same problem. The London-based Richard O Brien has a CD with thirteen songs that admirably showcases his mastery of the songwriting craft, his superb pop-rock voice and relaxed delivery, even if there s a similarity about most of them and some dodgy thievery from other writers.
The balladic opener You Deserve More sets out his stall quite convincingly, although Dearest Darina is at times so close to Dylan s Knocking On Heaven s Door , complete with female choir, that one can only laugh at the sheer audacious unoriginality of it all. But the snappy Down The Boreen , despite some clumsy drumming and the totally unoriginal lyric line heaven is missing an angel , could be a winner. O Brien gigs around Ireland and London and he s worth catching on the evidence presented here.
Originality would not be high on Sligoman Liam Gannon s agenda. His demo features workmanlike but uninspired versions of Irish wedding staples like Cavan Girl , The Meeting Of The Waters and Jimmy McCarthy s Neidin . He has a pleasant, listenable voice, with the occasional lapse, but that can be sorted. One suspects that Liam is a big fan of Mary Black, Tommy Fleming and others of that ilk, and he may in time carve a niche for himself in that market, but he ll have to try harder at offering something fresh rather than note-for-note copies of the work of others.
Liam might learn a little from Freeport s new demo Drift where he ll hear a band a least trying to find their own voice. They have a fine female vocalist in Dee K and they invite comparisons with the melodic sophistication and intelligence of Beautiful South. Sun Day shows they can play, write and sing, although it s hardly overburdened with catchy hooks, while The Maze is an instrumental that one would expect to work well in the live context, with some fine guitar work driving it along.
Butterfly has a very stupid U2-ish guitar intro before some synth strings and Dee K s voice kick in and rescue it. It s tasty pop-rock, with a flavour akin to seventies soft prog-rockers like Curved Air, but the song will probably not be featuring on a karaoke machine near you for a while yet. You wonder if some bands have ever heard of phrases like catchy chorus . Freeport should be locked in a small cell and forced to listen to There She Goes by the LA s until they get sense, otherwise their obvious musical skills will take them nowhere.
Tony Lewis is a singer-songwriter from Rhyl who is planning to tour Ireland soon. Mysteriously for a man from North Wales Tony sings his very Dylanish songs with an American accent. The songs are standard angsty affairs, with the lengthy The City At Night owing a big debt to Bruce Springsteen. Shelter From The Storm has no connection with the Dylan song and it s also redolent with American imagery (highways, mission street, etc.) and it too goes on forever. If Tony is serious about his art he needs to stop pretending to be somebody he ain t.