The Mary Wallopers
Irish Rock ‘n’ Roll
(BC Records)
★★★★

FORMED in 2016, the now seven-piece The Mary Wallopers kick up a raucous, unruly whirlwind of Irish folk.

Combining traditional instruments, including banjo, accordion, whistles and bodhran with a strong punk ethic, The Pogues are an obvious touchstone, though the band also cite poet Jinx Lennon from their hometown of Dundalk as a key influence.

The set is largely made up of folk songs, like the wonderful Wexford, a tribute to travellers and fathers.

Elsewhere anger runs through The Idler, with its references to austerity and landlords renting out “shitholes,” and the singalong The Rich Man and the Poor Man, which ends with the memorable line: “The moral of the story is the rich are fucking cuntiums.”

Marvellously rough around the edges, Irish Rock ‘n’ Roll is one of the most rousing albums I’ve heard this year.

Wilco
Cousin
(dBpm Records)
★★★

FOLLOWING on from their impressive Ode To Joy and Cruel Country records, Wilco’s 13th studio album feels like a little bit of a dip in their long career.
With Wales’s Cate Le Bon in the producer’s chair, the press release refers to the Chicago indie rock group’s “big-hearted fearlessness.”

Certainly, like much of their recent output, there are lots of interesting things going on – nifty ideas and sounds, and frontman Jeff Tweedy’s usual lyrical dexterity. The single Evicted is nice enough, while A Bowl And A Pudding, seemingly about a relationship inflection point, floats along on a sea of exquisite acoustic guitars.

But nothing here feels fearless, adventurous or thrilling like their late ’90s/early 2000s work.

Fans won’t mind another comfortable Wilco record, though I suspect everyone else may scratch their heads and wonder what all the fuss is about.

Setting
Shone A Rainbow Light On
(Paradise of Bachelors)
★★★

GENERATED from improvisational sessions in Durham, North Carolina, Shone A Rainbow Light On is the debut album from a talented trio of US musicians – Nathan Bowles, Mind Over Mirrors’ Jaime Fennelly and Joe Westerlund.

It feels like a bold artistic statement, and about as far as you can get from mainstream popular music. The band employs a wide array of instruments, including strings, a harmonium, synths, metallophones and a piano zither to create four long soundscapes.

The droning music seems to come in waves, with the ominous closer Fog Glossaries reminding me a little of some of Vangelis’s Blade Runner soundtrack.

While many may dismiss it as self-indulgent and arduous, those that successfully tune in will find an intense, immersive instrumental set that defies easy categorisation – is it prog rock? Jazz? Folk? Classical? Americana? – and is unexpectedly absorbing.