Customer Reviews

Eleven Modern Antiquities

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11 Modern Antiquities - Pugwash 2008

With the release of the excellent 'Jollity' in 2005 Irish band Pugwash set the benchmark for modern powerpop. They effortlessly mixed smart uptempo rockers with delicate ballads, presenting a beautifully poised and constructed set that quite frankly left the competition in the dust. Imagine if Oasis hadn't lost the plot after two albums - it was that good.

So how does the astutely named '11 Modern Antiquities' stand up against it's mighty predecessor .... the good news is that Thomas Walsh and friends have done it again. With considerable style. From the stunning cover artwork to the perfectly realised running order the latest Pugwash opus is a masterpiece. It sounds every bit a polished as 'Jollity' but this time around the songs are even more accessible and, with the likes of The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon and former Jellyfish man Jason Falkner on board, you can literally 'feel' the quality.

Lead single 'Take Me Away' kicks off preceedings in fine style with it's McCartneyesque bass line and propolsive chorus, 'Your Friend' and the lovely lilting 'Here' both breath the same verified air as the Fab Four (complete with Harrison-like solo's) and 'It's So Fine' is pure Fountains Of Wayne. The experimental 'Limerance' even manages to sound like a lost Revolver out take - featuring an inventive Micheal Penn guitar solo.

Lyrically this is once again top stuff - 'My Genius' and 'At The Sea' - both co-written with Andy Partridge are chock full of amusing and clever lines - so good you'll find yourself going back to the lyric booklet time and time again. It's also worth mentioning that the harmonies are Beachboy perfect, the production and orchestration (take a bow mr Dave Gregory) is lush and Walsh's expressive voice has never sounded better.

So does '11 Modern Antiquities' have any faults - well the over-blown Sgt Pepperesque ending to the otherwise lovely 'Landsdowne Valley' seems to me a little obvious and Pugwash could yet again be accused of not exactly re-inventing the wheel - more re-visiting it. But with songs this good and, the sense that everyone involved in it's creation had such a great time, this is really just nit - picking. The best record of 2008 so far.

It would be unwise not to mention The Beatles and Oasis. It would also be remiss not to mention Beach Boys and XTC. Irish band Pugwash might not cut the most original swathe through pop music, then, but neither do they deliver anything second- rate. While it's arguable that their music crosses the boundaries from homage to pastiche, the fact remains that everything here is so incredibly good that the influences tend to blur into something familiar yet utterly distinctive. Take Me Away, the first single and first track on the album, sets the tone: an instantly hummable tune that lodges in the head and refuses to budge. Most of the songs are written solely by Thomas Walsh (with occasional assist from Neil Hannon and XTC's Andy Partridge); the overall impression is that his songwriting heroes are matched line by line, melody by melody. Heard it all before? Yes, but this really is fab.

Thomas Walsh and his group of very talented musical friends cooked up a sumptuous musical feast fit for connoisseurs of quality music. The latest release from Pugwash, "Eleven Modern Antiquities" is a succulent, wholesome delicacy that will grow and become a part of you over time if it hasn't done so already. Everything on this album including the sound quality is so good that it almost feels as if Thomas and his close-knit circle of friends came out to my house, formed a circle around me and played live. The songs themselves as well as the song order also have a distinct circular flow to them. They sweep the listeners away to far away places and various emotional states of mind throughout the course of what feels like a day.

The album opens with the sunny, guitar driven track "Take Me Away", which takes me away to a sunny morning and a warm blanket on a distant beach. How could it not with such a wonderful tribute to those unmistakable Beach Boy style harmonies toward the end of the song? It's a fun track to listen to and it paints mental pictures of liberation and freedom in my brain.

"Cluster Bomb" on the other hand is a chamber pop classic, which represents the paralysis that love can cause. This is a very well orchestrated song that sends shivers down my spine as the strings and the zither spin mental circles in my mind. "Here" is a touching ballad that rivals any Beatles ballad with its lush instrumentation and lyrics about longing for someone. It penetrated my soul instantly with its slow, dissonantly magical chord progressions. The next track, "It's So Fine," is a fun, psychedelic ditty that provides the perfect interlude before "Song for You", the lyrically profound ballad about the afterlife, and wanting to sing songs better while living forever.

"My Genius" relieves the tension from the previous track as it injects some fun and silliness into the song mix. This track paints a brilliant picture of happy hour giddiness that many people escape to with their alcoholic beverages of choice at the end of the day. It even has an old fashioned Caribbean vibe that is reminiscent of a memorable vacation to a tropical island.

"Limerance" is another Beatlesque ballad with the perfect balance between the piano, the synthesizer and the guitars. "Your Friend" is a catchy melody about what it means to be a friend. "The Cannon and the Bell" puts me in a trance especially with its vocoder and driving strings in the middle of the song.

"At the Sea", seems to have a circus vibe as it represents the end of a beautiful, sunny day at the beach and possibly even a beach boardwalk scene. I especially enjoyed the whistling, the kazoos and the chromatic scales throughout the whole song. It's the kind of song that I would associate with walking back to the car and loading it up with all of the beach gear after spending an entire day soaking up the summer sun. "Landsdowne Valley" is like the perfect ending to the perfect day with its reflective lyrics, emotion evoking dissonant chord progressions and climactic ending.

Congratulations to Thomas Walsh and all of his friends especially Neil Hannon, my favorite artist in the entire world for creating such a magnificent masterpiece. Thomas is fortunate that he has such talented friends from around the world that collaborated with him on this musical effort. The end result is so much greater than the sum of all the parts. Thank you very much for the music and the inspiration from the bottom of my heart.

Eleven Modern Antiquities

Take Me Away is a song that simply doesn't leave me. I purchased this CD prior to the release date to find out if the rest of the songs had the same effect. As a big Jeff Lynne fan I was hoping for Thomas Walsh to provide me new tunes that provided that same power pop beat. The CD just arrived. I highly recommend Cluster Bomb, My Genius, Limerance and Landsdowne Valley as the songs that have unpredictable melodies that will "take you away". It's fun discovering something new. Pugwash might be new for me but they remind me of what I've enjoyed for a long time.

As usual, Tom Walsh and Pugwash elevate their music far beyond the mundane of today's pop - cellos at just the right places; hints of psychedelic; Jeff Lynne and the Beatles for sure, but it may be time for Mr. Walsh to dig a little deeper into his soul for the lyrics of his next release. And the musical wheels will need a little more sweep and symphony in order to pull out of the minor rut they find themselves.

It's worth a buy for sure, especially if you long for the next Electric Light Orchestra. But as it stands, Eleven Modern Antiquities could've used an extra dose of it's own creativity elixir.