Land Lovers
Dublin, Leinster, Ireland | SELF
Music
Press
"She is the shipping forecast read by the Crazy Frog". This arresting line from Cloudy Girl, the first song on this short, six-track labour of love from Dublin's Land Lovers serves notice that singer Pádraig Cooney likes to skew his songs just like a young Elvis Costello. Fidgety with choppy guitars, some gorgeous melodica and a muscular rhythm section, Immovable Feet, the follow up to last year's well-received debut album Romance Romance, is another collection of strange but infectious pop songs from Land Lovers. Strangest of all is Paddy Works the Maglev a future tale of Irish navvies reverting to national stereotype and slaving on an undersea rail line between London and New York in 2041. - 4/5 - Alan Corr
Romance Romance proves that you can make a really good record in a closet. Land Lovers are a five-piece band, but their progenitor, multi tasking Padraig Cooney, recorded this album practically single-handedly at home and created the bespoke outfit afterwards. This excellent debut delivers bang up to date, uncommonly smart pop. Fresh melodies engage first, then fantastic lyrics kick in, including a welcome dig at Razorlight's Johnny Borrell in the Hot Chip-style opener Dark Secret. The achingly sweet The Whip Hand is concerned with the pulling power of a sexy ing�nue, 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. The sparkling synths of the closer The Lonely One bring this perfectly formed collection to a swift and satisfying close. - 4/5 - Claire Looby
"As soon as I read the lyrics to Land Lovers' Paddy Works the Maglev, I knew they were my kind of band - it's a wonderful tale about homesick navvies working in the year 2041. There aren't too many songs on that subject. This approach to songwriting sets Land Lovers out from the crowd... the new album echoes the excellent sounds of bands like Television, Belle and Sebastian, The Go-Betweens and the Magnetic Fields." - News of the World
“[Land Lovers] know their way around a well-crafted pop tune blindfolded. Buckets of natural talent.” – State.ie
“Land Lovers have a certain romantic pop brand that is unique in itself for its purity. It is a very well-rounded, well thought out package that has a maturity that sets them apart.” – Connected Magazine - Various
"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." –Hot Press
"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
- Various
Discography
Romance Romance (album - 2008)
Immovable Feet (EP - 2009)
Yuletide Miscellany (free download album - 2009)
Confidants (album - 2011)
Photos
Bio
Land Lovers have notions on being a pop band. They have recently released their second album, Confidants. It is their first album as a full band, having begun life as the sole concern of his bedroom's Padraig Cooney. Jim Carroll of the Irish Times called it "a rare gem of a record" where you'll find "meaty, magnificent, haunting worlds of domestic wonder". Several Irish publications included it among their top albums of 2011.
They remind some people of XTC, or Television, or early Squeeze, or Elvis Costello & the Attractions, and are generally interested in elegant melodicism.
They are founder members and active contributors to the Popical Island collective. They have had songs on all three of the much-loved Popical Island compilations. They've played at festivals like Electric Picnic, Body & Soul and Forbidden Fruit, and have been the unloved crowd-fluffers for an assortment of international luminaries, including Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, The Mantles, Nodzz, and The Wave Pictures.
Both full-length Land Lovers albums and an EP are available at landloversmusic.bandcamp.com.
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