Last Man in Europe
(37/100 Greatest Irish Albums)

If ever an Irish band was derailed by ruthless record company monkey business, it was The Blades. Led by songwriter Paul Cleary, the Dublin power-pop trio had already been through one abortive deal with the UK based Energy label in the early ‘80s. However, when they signed to Electra America in 1984, it seemed like their time might finally have come. It was not to be. The band recorded Last Man In Europe, a superb collection of songs from the lower east side of Dublin. But whatever shitstorm was going on in Electra, the album was rejected. When it did eventually appear on the Reekus label, the mystery deepened: tracks like the wonderful ‘Downmarket’, ‘Talk About Listening’, the reggaefied ‘Those Were The Days’and the Mavericks-like ‘Boy One’ – which even had a sitar solo on it – made this stand out as one of the Irish albums of the decade.