LAND LOVERS
DUBLIN, COUNTY DUBLIN
Land Lovers is the musical project of Pádraig Cooney from Dublin, expanded to include Ciarán Canavan, Brian Lynch, Rob Maguire and Cormac Hughes in the full band line-up. In July 2009 they released “Immovable Feet”, a 6-song 'very short album' and the quick follow-up to acclaimed 2008 debut album "Romance Romance". It was accompanied by gigs in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway, the Midlands Gateway (!) and at the Castlepalooza festival.
The band takes its name and some influence from Luke Haines, and would invite Elvis Costello, Stephin Merritt, Bob Pollard, Robert Forster and Dan Boeckner to its wedding. They say they match memorable melodies with intelligent and sometimes funny lyrics. “Romance Romance“ was launched in Ireland to a full house at the Boom Boom Room on Friday, 19th September, and, since then, Land Lovers have headlined to packed rooms, appeared on the 2009 IMRO Showcase Tour and supported the likes of the Future Kings of Spain, Uzi & Ari and R.S.A.G.
The debut is a 10-song collection of guitar/synth pop that has received critical approval – the band introduced the album on the back of 4-star reviews in The Irish Times, the RTÉ Guide and The Sunday Tribune, amongst other favourable notices. It cropped up in Nialler9.com’s Top 20 Irish Albums of 2008.
With "Immovable Feet", the underlying spirit and style of "Romance Romance" remains but the greater possibilities of 5 people playing rather than 1 are harnessed. Beginning with the low-vis litany of Cloudy Girl and continuing to Trouble for TV’s Favourite Couple’s euphoric coda, a reasonably diverse range of pop inclinations is expelled from their system: Everything I Ever Did Wrong moves from early spikiness to an enormous, crashing instrumental refrain; Immovable Feet exhibits some latent affection for miserable old showtunes; Paul Treacy Probably Knows is a rollicking 60s pop number brought to you via the attendant influences of Guided by Voices and Squeeze; Paddy Works the Maglev confuses the past with the future amid jangling guitars and Space Invaders synths.
Press, re: Romance Romance
"This excellent debut delivers bang up to date, uncommonly smart pop. Fresh melodies engage first, then fantastic lyrics kick in... achingly sweet... the wonderful, self conscious love song The Black Country easily lives up to the standard of Back on the Chain Gang, from which it borrows its opening riff... perfectly formed collection" - 4/5, The Ticket (Irish Times)
"Irish album of the summer, packed to the brim with gorgeous, singable tunes. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, like this record in any other musical camp in the country." – Off Her Rocker (HotPress.com)
"Beautiful guitar hooks… the production is near perfect for what is essentially a home recording." - 4/5, The Sunday Tribune
“A sparky little gem from Dublin’s DIY leftfield… with a stinging lyric sheet. Vocalist Pádraig Cooney is both wounded poet and cynical dissector of modern mores and his sonic furnishings of clipped guitars and wobbly eighties synths make for a smart, no-frills backdrop. A hugely promising and highly recommended debut.” – 4/5, RTÉ Guide
“A short, catchy and witty album with plenty of DIY charm and sweet guitars. It'll make you wonder how many other people's stuff you're missing out on, and happy that there's one name to cross off the list.” – RTÉ.ie
“You come across a pure pop gem in Modern Romance… how could you not love this song? The Whip Hand could have been lifted directly from that soundtrack of your favourite teen movie from all those years ago.” – Drop-D.ie
