Description
Label Review.
2017 album.
Our Overview.
Fronted by pop savant Thomas Walsh, Irish band Pugwash are back with their seventh album ‘Silverlake’. If Brit Awards were handed out to Best Kept Secrets or Lamentably Lost Legends, Pugwash wouldn’t be able to move under the weight of their gongs. In the 20 years since the Irish band was formed by Walsh their reputation has grown by stealth and they’ve caught the attention of almost all of Walsh’s musical heroes, but mainstream success has remained frustratingly, tantalisingly just out of reach.
Thomas's love of classic pop is manifested in his music - songwriting that has garnered him an impressive collection of celebrity name-drops he can count as fans (Brian Wilson! Jeff Lynne!). His cricket-themed collaborations with The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon (as "The Duckworth Lewis Method") saw Thomas garner Ivor Novello, Choice Music Prize and Meteor Awards nominations and UK Top 40 albums.
Pugwash’s guitarist Tosh Flood joined Divine Comedy for the “Foreverland” album and tour which prompted Walsh to return Pugwash to what it originally was, a solo project. A phone call to long time collaborator (and friend) Jason Faulkner to enquire about producing the album was met with a resounding “yes” and less than 10 months later, we have this delightful slice of pop perfection titled “Silverlake”.
Pugwash has often been labelled as “retro” but “Silverlake” is anything but a retro record, the songs might display classic pop songcraft but Falkner’s production makes sure that they don’t come out as an homage (think XTC under their Dukes of Stratosphear alias) to the late sixties pop boom.