The Witching Hour Sessions – 17/02/2018

A House

A House were an Irish rock band active from the 1980s into the 1990s, and recognized for the clever, “often bitter or irony laden lyrics of Dave Couse bolstered by the seemingly effortless musicality”. The single “Endless Art” is one of their best known charting successes.

Tonight’s listening;

1 – On Our Big Fat Merry Go Round (1988)

On its debut album, A House reveals a taste for driving, catchy guitar rock somewhat in the style of U2, although the lyrics are full of attitude (attacks on journalists ‘That’s Not the Truth’ and production team Stock, Aitken & Waterman ”Stone the Crows’, and violent imagery — song titles include ‘I Want To Kill Something’, ‘Watch Out You’re Dead’, and ‘Violent Love’. Mighty debut all the same.

2 – I Am The Greatest (1991)

‘I Am the Greatest’ is the unusual but intriguing album from Dublin, Ireland’s A House. In places melodious with a bent twist; in others, dissonant with an arresting groove. Picture the Velvet Underground nursed on Celtic roots. Highlights: the title track’s dissection of the price of fame and “Endless Art,” essentially a roll call of dead.

3 – Wide Eyed and Ignorant (1994)

The Irish quintet A House teamed with producer Edwyn Collins for their fourth release, 1995’s ‘Wide Eyed And Ignorant’. The result is a collection of jangly, uptempo songs that bear more than a passing resemblance to James. ‘Wide Eyed And Ignorant’ is an entertaining and invigorating listen.