No Monster Club
People Are Weird
[Mirror Universe/Popical Island]
Local boy Bobby Aherne has been at it for years. After originally making himself known during the heady days of the Celtic Tiger under defunct pseudonym Dublin Duck Dispensary, there’s been a seemingly endless stream of rattling lo-fi gems tumbling out of his bedroom ever since, with each full-length release showcasing an apparently effortless nous for ramshackle songcraft. The last few years, his adopting the No Monster Club moniker and embracing a (broadly speaking) more collaborative approach with the aid of regular partners-in-chime Mark Chester and Paddy Hanna, has revealed a particularly rich seam of form.
The last couple of NMC records have been characterised by a coherence of vision one would not have associated with the scattershot nature of his earlier work. People Are Weird exudes a certain air of significance within the Aherne oeuvre. Whether People Are Weird is a high watermark in Aherne’s ouevre is unclear, but it certainly exudes an air of significance (earning it a release on Brooklyn label Mirror Universe) and is unquestionably an LP brimming with confidence and giddy experimentation. The quick-fingered, fresh-freckled riffing that lead to NMC being somewhat arbitrarily thrown under the multicoloured if entirely fictional parasol of the ‘surf’ or ‘beach’ rock scene has been toned down in favour of a wonky, small-scale pop-psych not unlike that of long-term touchstones The Unicorns. With the material tailor-made for their famously exuberant, shout-along-if-you-know-the-words live shows, People Are Weird is the sound of the summer you’re hoping you have.
Like This, Try These:
The Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
Kleenex Girl Wonder – Ponyoak
Olivia Tremor Control – Black Foliage: Animation Music
Words: Danny Wilson
