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 Caught in the Carousel "There will be music despite everything"
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Pugwash
Giddy
Ape
If you're over fifty and you're reading this in Britain, the name Pugwash oughta bring back memories. Captain Pugwash was the star of a cheap cartoon series (makes South Park look like Snow White) on U.K. telly in the late 50's. The band Pugwash is Irish and they pretty much sound like ELO without the O. And while we're throwing out names of bands with three letters, let's not forget XTC... another obvious influence. In fact Andy Partridge himself took notice and signed them up to his label. Getting back to the Electric Light Orchestra, they actually sound more like Jeff Lynne's 60's act, The Idle Race. Which is pretty cool. This is crisp, clean pop music with mid-sixties Revolver/Pet Sounds arrangements and coy lyrics. The opener, "Apples", features some jangly 12-string driven verses leading into a chorus that could've been on XTC's Skylarking. "It's Nice To Be Nice" bounces along in classic Beatles/Beach Boys/Zombies fashion and is probably the best thing here. "Song for You" fingerpicks away—picture Jeff Lynne singing "Julia" or "Blackbird" and "Sunrise Sunset" is more Idle Race-meets-White Album. Sometimes lead singer/songwriter Thomas Walsh gets too smart for his own good as in "Cluster Bomb" which reveals itself long before it has a chance to detonate. And "Monorail" is a little too cute and transparent (very "Drive My Car"). "My Genius" sounds almost Rutles, with a Mersey "Ask Me Why"-ish beat and lyrics like, "You fell for my genius/I'm no Aristotle." Lennon off the White Album infuses "Finer Things In Life." "Two Wrongs" is kind of Oasis and "Anchor" finishes things up nicely and if Pugwash has its own sound it's on this number as they settle down to Abbey Road piano and strings. And we finally get some of the "O" in ELO.
—Don Ciccone
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