AT around the same time that Bono was making a tit of himself by running around stadiums with a white flag, A&R men from record companies world-wide were doing something similar by running around Dublin with unfeasibly large recording contracts, rather desperately looking for a guitar-based four-piece band which, in years to come, would add a few pence to the share price of their company.
In the over-heated economy of the time, your bog standard no-hopers from the local pub would find that, come closing time, they had just received a £250 000 advance and were jetting off to LA the next day to record their album with some triple Grammy award-winning producer. When the circus later moved on, to first Manchester and then Seattle (and now believe it or believe it not, Wales) all that was left were a few broken hearts, many bruised egos and a lot of "our record company never understood us" stories.
Caught between having to sound record company-friendly yet secretly wanting ft be the new Velvet Underground, Irish rock music failed to find its voice in the Eighties - and it wasn't until the early Nineties, when a three-piece from Larne called Therapy? began to rack up very impressive sales that Irish rock made its second and long overdue dent on the international markets. Admirably enough, both groups ploughed some of their royalty money back into home-based record companies with the expressed intention of nurturing young talent - although to vastly differing effects. While U2's Mother label was a noble gesture, it never really threatened to become a Sub-Pop or a Postcard but Blunt records, which is pay-rolled by Andy Cairns from Therapy? has made a small - if not commercially significant difference to the local music scene.
Alongside fellow small indies like Dead. Elvis, Independent and the where-are- they-now Mickey Rourke's Fridge, Blunt aren't the sort of label who accompany their charges into the studio and lecture them about the need for middle eights or singalong choruses. If often it appears that these labels are making music for the sheer sake of it, with scant regard for Triple A radio playlisting or heavy rotation on MTV, then that's the point. The latest Blunt album, Hum bucker by Dublin's Mexican Pets, is a substantive and worthy affair with a far broader range than the previous Nobody's Working Title as the band realise that influences as diverse as Husker Du and American Music Club can be cohesively merged. The criticism, and there's always one, is that they tend to bury their melodies a bit too deep, sometimes under layers of guitar and other times through their phrasing. But songs like Sunny Day and the excellent Supermarket earn this album the "recommended" word.
Over on Dead Elvis, The Sewing Room have just released their follow-up to And Nico and the very beguiling Drug Free EP of last year. The band first came to attention because they originally counted an ex-member of The Stars of Heaven, Stan Erraught, among their line-up (he has since left). If And Nico was treading the line between lo-fi and no-fi at times, Sympathy For The Disheveled has a fuller, rockier sound that at times puts you in mind of The Replacements (in their attitude to song-writing). One of those albums that needs a few consecutive listens before the charm of the songs becomes apparent, there's plenty on this that veers towards the brilliant - in particular the stand-out track, The Madonna Song, which could and should be a single. If you're looking for the state of independence as practised in Dublin 1997, these two albums tell you the full story.
COMING close to the legendary Primal Scream/Luton Airport story, this week we salute Motorhead's Lemmy for his services to rock'n'roll. Having to fly from New York to London to do a gig, he told British Airways what to do with their direct flight. Instead he opted to go Air France to Paris and fly on to London from there. The reason: British Airways have a no-smoking policy while Air France (bless `em) are more than happy to accommodate multiple Marlboro-smoking rock stars (and with the filters broken off too - for extra hardness)... There's a bit of a Stone Roses week - coming up as first, The Stoned Roses (the tribute band) play The Olympia on April 25th while John Squire's new band The Seahorses play Dublin Castle (outdoors, naturally) on May 3rd..... . Rizla alert: John Martyn and his band are at The Olympia (midnight gig) tomorrow night - prepare to be amazed at his new dubby, trip-hoppy direction, if he decides to do it live ... Major curiosity value in seeing what Brendan Perry (of the awesomely good Dead Can Dance) will get up to when he supports Nick Kelly - who'll be complete with band - at the Red Box next Friday night (doors 7.30 p.m.). Also on the bill are Interference ... Jack L and his new band are back in the Da Club with a four-week Saturday night residency starting tomorrow night (10 p.m.) ... Next week: more stuff about airports.
