What's in a number?

Limerick’s 202s may be named after their favourite synthesizer but, with influences ranging from Kraftwerk to Neil Young, there's more to this duo than meets the eye.

“This is what we always wanted to do,” explains lead vocalist Mike Glennon, as he and bassist Steve Melling relax over lunch in the Central Hotel. “Our last band, Long Lost Brother, split up because it lost its way musically.
“When Long Lost Brother ended we knew exactly what we wanted to do,” he adds. “We’d always planned on incorporating samples and ambient recordings but it proved impossible in a standard four-piece line-up. This time we knew we were going to make that the main focus of what we were doing.”
The result is their self-titled longplayer, a smorgasboard of harmonica, synths, bass, guitar and glockenspiel, which has just been released on Parisian indie label Le Son Du Marquis.
“I think the album has a distinctive sound and feel,” Mike notes. “It has elements throughout that might come more to the fore at points: synths in some songs and guitars on others. It varies – but I think it definitely ties together as an album. We try not to define it. If you’re sitting at home writing a song and you have a keyboard and a guitar, sometimes you plug in the keyboard and other times you plug in the guitar!”
The album was recorded in Experimental Audio studio with Steve Shannon of Halfset fame at the helm.
“Steve has worked with Adrian Crowley, Carly Sings, Cap Pas Cap, Story Of Hair and Crayonsmith,” Mike explains. “We’ve worked with him over the years so we were comfortable with him and he was comfortable with us. Also, he was as keen to make something worthwhile as we were, it wasn’t like being in a studio where you are paying someone for their time. He was as committed to it as we were. It was great!”
The collection also features the mellifluous tones of Carly Sings on the Bacharach-esque number ‘Who Cares About Sunshine?’
“I liked the idea of that song being a ‘60s boy-girl duet,” says Mike. “Steve suggested Carly, as he was doing the album with her at the time. He played us a couple of her tracks in the studio and we thought her voice was perfect for it.”
And how did Le Son Du Marquis enter the frame?
“They’d heard a few tracks on our MySpace and got in touch,” Steve states.
“We kept in contact and sent them tracks as soon as we had them,” continues Mike. “When the album was finished we sent it off to them and they loved it and wanted to put it out.”
Japanese and German deals are also being finalised and Portugese, Norwegian and Swiss distribution is on the horizon too.
In terms of the live scenario, it was with the addition of drummer Barry in September 2008 that the line-up came together.
“Barry was just a godsend for us,” admits Mike. “We were going to go down the two-men-with-a-laptop-and-drum machine road. We didn’t want to mess with the vibe or the chemistry within the band. But we met Barry and he was just really into the music straight away.”
202s have gigged extensively since late last year and hope to hit the continent during the summer. But first there’s the matter of some impressive support slots, with labelmates A Certain Ratio and electronica wizards Fujiya And Miyagi as hosts.
“I can’t wait for the A Certain Ratio show,” enthuses Steve. “I love the new album.”
Impressively, in their previous guise, Long Lost Brother, the band shared a stage and worked with Hugh Cornwell.
“Hugh came over for a gig and we supported him,” Steve explains. “He really liked our set and offered to produce a track. He’s a great guy – we learned a lot in the studio from him.”
“We picked up lots of songwriting tips too,” adds Mike. “He’s really good in the studio but obviously he has the songwriting chops as well.”
They’ve certainly hit the ground running. So what does the rest of the year hold?
“We want to gig as much as possible and get this album heard. We’re really proud of it,” says Mike. “We’re trying to slot in some studio time to start the whole process again. We already have a few ideas. We’re open to anything. It might be nice to get some remixes done too.”
Anyone in mind?
“Well we’re not going to name any names in case they’re reading this and say ‘I don’t want to work with those guys’!”

202s is out now on Le Son Du Marquis