WHILE MOST OF THE WORLD IS content to have its "irish niche" filled by such acts as the winsome yet-ultimately-saccharine Corrs and the patently traditional pub-rocking The Pogues, there are many other overlooked Irish-originated contingents that solidly identify with rock. The massive, stadium-commanding conglomerate that bears the U2 logo, the cloying cutesy cinematic creation that was the Commitments and the increasingly bewildering Sinead O'Connor, are not the end-all of Irish rock music,
Ireland has produced a lion's share of pop music luminaries of all styles and sounds. Whether known for their Celtic origins that shine through their traditional folk instrumentation, their strident political statements, or just their sheer knack for cranking out a cracking tune, Irish bands have left an indelible mark on the face of rock n' roll.
Here are a few bands that have been over-shadowed along the way.
Compilation by Alex Smith
Stiff Little Fingers
Bursting out of troubled Belfast during the formative days of late 70's British punk, the Stiff Little Fingers proved to be every bit as viable as their Brit compatriots. Taking their political cues from the Clash, the `Fingers' hard-line approach left precious little room for misinterpretation. Punctuated by lead singer Jake Burns impossibly gruff vocals, the band's debut album Inflammable Material from `79 (containing crucial standards like "Suspect Device" and "Alternative Ulster") remains a pivotal album to this day. Brash, socially conscious and outspoken with a barrage of buzzsaw guitars to match, the Fingers zealously boxed the ears of complacency with prototypical punk/anti-military anthems as the anthemic "Wasted Life" and controversial "Johnny Was" (the latter's staccato guitar attack to be later lifted in tribute by U2's "Seconds" on War). Releasing a string of respectable albums before falling prey to the inevitable pitfalls that slew so many of their peers, the band eventually lost its initial fire and broke up in the middle of the following decade. A reunion-tour lineup continues to this day, with ex-Jam member Bruce Foxton on bass detail.
Virgin Prunes
Every bit as experimental as Bauhaus and ten-times as scary, the Virgin Prunes rose out of the same Dublin bohemian society that gave the world U2 (founding Prune Dik Evans is the Edge's brother). Taking a more artsy approach than Bono's boys, the Virgin Prunes compensated for their initial lack of musical skills by indulging in the theater of confrontation. Fairing sparse, almost-improvisational playing with unsettling performance art that could be considered groundbreaking by contemporary Gothic standards, the band stopped at very little to get their point across (though what that point was is hard to say). Legends abound about conceptual performances that involved forcing the audience to enter the venue through a narrow plastic tunnel smeared with fish entrails and excrement. Dueling frontmen Gavin Friday and Guggi complemented the minimalist Sturm und Drong with cryptic lyrics sung via cloying whines and screams, all the while slathered in horrific warpaint. An era best captured on their eerie '82 album, If I Die, I Die, the Virgin Prunes can definitely be credited for paving the way for many a would-be spooky band to follow. Later in their career the Virgin Prunes morphed into a foppish glam act with new romantic tendencies before imploding.
Gavin Friday
Following the collapse of the Virgin Prunes (though a crippled incarnation of the band soldiered on briefly without him), Gavin Friday guested on albums by the Fall and Coil before pairing up with multi-instrumentalist Maurice Seezer to produce the stunning Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves. A jaw-dropping artistic turnaround from his days of squalor and mayhem in the original Virgin Prunes, Each Man... proved to be a rich artistic statement, steeped in Friday's affection for noir-ish cabaret and melancholy torch songs. In the style of Brel and Piaf (with a dash of Lydon and Bowie for texture), Friday asserted himself as a true performer. Further albums and soundtrack work revealed an ear for so-called Europop and "trip-hop:' though Friday remains at his best in the theatrical department, the more histrionic the better Though occasionally guilty of camping it up and laying it on a bit thick, the criminally unheralded Gavin Friday can never be accused of being boring.
Thin Lizzy
The quintessential Irish rock band, Phil Lynott's mighty band of outlaws barely made a scratch in the American charts during their heyday in the mid-70's, but for a scorching anthem in `76 called "The Boys are Back in Town." The fact that this signature tune of theirs celebrated the return of Yank soldiers from Vietnam sung with a purposely American accent all but completely camouflaged the band's otherwise strident Irish roots (though the band has counted an American and a Scotsman in its ranks at various points).With Lynott as the unlikely black Irishman and ringleader, Thin Lizzy was a hugely influential band all over Europe and Australia and are still spoken of in hushed, reverent tones in the worlds of hard rock and heavy metal. Their cover of the traditional standard "Whiskey in a Jar" has been covered innumerable times from everyone from the Sisters of Mercy through to most recently Metallica, and the late Lynott is still hailed as a veritable rock God. Despite a couple of other modest hits like "jailbreak" and "The Cowboy Song" Thin Lizzy gradually fell apart towards the middle of the 80's, and Lynott died tragically of heroin abuse in `86. Just this past year, admitted Thin Lizzy disciple Henry Rollins recently recruited Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham to cover the band's "Are You Ready."
The Undertones
Pick up any compilation of late 70's punk and you're bound to spot this youthful Irish band's biggest hit among the tracks. Blessed enough to have caught the ears of esteemed Brit deejay John Peel, "Teenage Kicks" earned Derry's Undertones regular radio rotation and a deal with Sire records. Eschewing politics and social criticism for earnest, plucky paeans to girls and...er...chocolate, the Undertones `79 eponymous debut scored another goal for Ireland in the punk sweepstakes. Punctuated by vocalist Feargal Sharkey's high-pitched warblings, the Undertones personified the classic alienation of adolescence with tracks like "Smarter Than You," "Girls Don't Like It," and the hyperactive "Mars Bar," all rumbling along with requisite punk velocity. Despite these stylistic trappings, however, the band were ultimately a damn fine pop band in punk clothing, a fact their developing songwriting skills amply proved. After three more albums filled with respectable singles (though never again reaching the heights of "Teenage Kicks"), the band split up. Sharkey went on to front a short-lived New Wave outfit dubbed The Assembly, scoring a pivotal 80's hit, "Never Never," and then going solo. Undertones guitarists/brothers Damian and John O'Neil recruited Yank singer Steve Mack and set off on another respectable venture as That Petrol Emotion, scoring a few notable singles as college radio darlings in ten years before splitting up. Unlike most of their graduating class, the Undertones have refreshingly refused to reform.
Ash
Naming their breakout album of blistering, punky guitar pop 1977--not as a reference to punk's year zero, but rather to the year their beloved Star Wars hit theaters (and, coincidentally, the year the band members were born)-Ash burst out of the gate barely into their teens. Regardless of their small years and teenage obsessions with Star Wars and the Jerky Boys, singer/guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray displayed a songwriting savvy that was at once both fresh and vaguely retro. Seamlessly fusing storming guitar riffs with pop hooks, Ash landed conveniently between the tides of grunge, Britpop and the pop-punk of Green Day, boasting energetic punky workouts like"Kung Fu" and lush pop gems like "Goldfinger" on the same disc. Despite already being a big festiva draw across Europe, Ash hjas yet to achieve major Stateside success. Expanding both their sound and lineup (adding guitarist Charlotte Hatherly) on their second long player, Nu Clear Sounds, Ash strove for bigger production to reach a bigger audience. As evidenced by their Brit compatriots, Oasis and Supergrass, cracking and maintaining success in the U.S. isn't that simple.
Fatima Mansions
Cork's Cathal Coughlan's post MicroDisney project boasted more fangs and bile than his former outfit, concentrating on society's ills while indulging in as many different styles as could be crammed onto a compact disc. With the battle cry of 'Keep Music Evil,' Coughlan and Mansion mainstay guitarist Andrias O'Gruama had a penchant for putting their money where Coughlani very active mouth was. Lyrically unsettling and uncompromising, the band's debut album Vive Dead Ponies gleefully took potshots at Britain's stranglehold on Northern Ireland, the Catholic church, mob mentality, and a host of other touchy topics to a combustible, purposely jarring soundtrack. Further albums found Coughlan and Co. stretching out a bit, but still embracing a shoot-from-the-lip aesthetic, especially when taking the time to "cover" (more like mutilate) vacant top 40 hits like REM's insipid "Shiny Happy People" and Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do it ForYou):' Running out of steam by the middle of the 90's, Coughlan embarked on a strictly solo career which proved to be more melodic, yet no less outspoken.
