Introducing by C O NEILL & CO.
Remember bands like Saw Doctors, Whipping Boy and The Pale? Bands who played student unions, your cool old brother had their t-shirts, you stole his records and got into these fabled, legendary bands that didn’t sound anything like the brit/yank rock you’re listening to with rapt consumer attention. This is homegrown. You could meet these guys outside a pub and bum a smoke off them. That was the draw of these bands, unlike the bands in the posters on your wall, you could aspire to be like them. It gave you a sense of pride listening to these records, knowing they were irish guys just like you and me.
“Introducing” conjures up these images for me. A time before celtic tiger blandness in music, where musicians put their all into their albums for the sake of the music, not for the payday. It has our cultural identity stamped all over it. From songs influenced by the ghosts of show bands passed, tractors and our own knack of turning the humour magnifying glass onto ourselves. Ciaran is quite simply a cunning and comedic lyricist and songwriter. “I got a map to find my head, and found it up my ass” (June Madness), “I’m clocking in, i’m clocking out, i got a desk, a rubber stamp, a calculator for a brain, and half a gram to ease the pain” (This Congregation), are just some of Mr O’Neil’s fine bon mots. It’s an album you can’t help grinning along to. Not just because of the cheeky lines, but because of the welcome return of that that feeling of pride that someone out there is making music so totally unafraid of parodying itself, so quintessentially irish. (CHEW YOUR OWN FAT REVIEW 2012)
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“Introducing” is the debut album from Cavan based band C O NEILL & CO. and its a wonderfully ragged and whiskey-soaked release thats full of dark observations and bruised and battered ballads. Ciarán O Neill`s broad accent really helps add some character to songs such as “I Fall In” & ” Half Man Half Tractor” and while a few of the country tinged numbers may take a while to embed themselves into your brain, once they do you`ll be humming them for weeks. Album highlight is the epic and anthemic “Look Da No Hands” which features a guest appearance from Whipping Boy`s Fearghal Mc Kee, and his typically impassioned spoken-word performance ends proceedings on a massive high –
Edwin Mc Fee / Hotpress Review 2012
Tracklist
| 1. | Country Tune | 3:22 |
| 2. | Take Me Over Machine | 3:23 |
| 3. | Can I Roam | 2:46 |
| 4. | I Fall In | 4:35 |
| 5. | June Madness | 4:29 |
| 6. | This Congregation | 2:15 |
| 7. | Half Man Half Tractor | 1:56 |
| 8. | Smiling Stupid | 2:46 |
| 9. | You Lived In My Life | 4:26 |
| 10. | Please Take Me There | 3:37 |
| 11. | Look Da No Hands | 4:45 |
