Preview a track from Irish postpunk underground comp “Strange Passion”

cover-strange-passionFor those whose only exposure to Irish music comes in the form of the Pogues, Stiff Little Fingers, or the Cranberries, there’s a wide-open field of music to choose from. Finders Keepers has compiled “rare, unheralded and unreleased music that emerged in Ireland following the first wave of punk and new wave bands.” The collection is Strange Passion, and is due out on CD, LP, and download on July 17 via Finders Keepers imprint Cache Cache.

If the rest of the comp is even 10% as good as the sample track they’ve put out there — Major Thinkers’ “Avenue B” — this is going to be a fantastic selection of music. I’ve not had a song so entrance me since hearing Chrome’s “Electric Chair” for the first time several years ago. There’s just something about sinuous nature of the guitar work and the way it wraps itself around the pleasure center of your brain.



The press release covers the rest of the artists included:

Strange Passion is an intriguing snapshot of the music made in the Irish underground and DIY scenes in the early 1980s. While U2 were undoubtedly the breakthrough act from this new generation, the compilation shines a light on some of Ireland’s undervalued acts, many of whom only lasted a year or two but made a big impact in their short but exciting existence. The female-fronted Dogmatic Element opens the album with “Just Friends,” a rumbling, garage-punk tune that was self-released in 1982 on the band’s first 7-inch, which was limited to only 1000 copies. From there the compilation explores the dark, cacophonous punk of The Virgin Prunes, whose “Twenty Tens (I’ve Been Smoking All Night),” the band’s first single, is a primal dose of stabbing guitars, tumbling vocals and clattering drums that still sounds as urgent and relevant today as it did when it was released by Rough Trade in 1981. The Threat’s tribal punk gem “High Cost Of Living” and the brooding “Play Safe” by Chant! Chant! Chant!, who were spawned from The Threat after they broke up, perfectly captures the anger, disillusionment and frustration that was rampant among the Irish youth.

The second half explores the new wave, electronic and experimental sounds that were being created all across Ireland. The comp features the spacey new wave of Operating Theatre and Choice, the drum-machine sputtering punk-funk of Stano, the stomping new wave dance of Major Thinkers, the tweeish female-fronted synth-pop of SM Corporation, the futurist synth-wave of PH, the gothy minimal wave of Peridots and the lo-fi electronics of Tripper Humane.”