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THE LONDON LASSES & PETE QUINN
The London Lasses & Pete Quinn LL001
The Pogues set the record straight on London based Irish music, hopefully putting paid for all time to the myth that the music produced there was in any way inferior to that coming directly from "the auld sod" Traditional Irish music has had a strong presence in London since mass emigration in the 1940s and 50s. The vibrancy of the capital city produced an extraordinary melting pot, exposing musicians of the next generation to the traditional styles of just about every county in Ireland, (also incidentally producing some riveting and hair raising stories, if you read a variety of writers from Packie Byrne to Bob Geldof).

If I were managing the London Lasses and looking for a tag line I'd plump for "the Corrs,but with nowt taken owt". As Brendan McGlinchey says on his sleeve note, "They're lovely to look at, lovely to be with, and best of all lovely to listen to". Unlike The Corrs though the grit is still very much intact. Banjo, Fiddles, Whistles (note the plurals, cos there's more than one of each and more than one player of them) produce overall what is a fast aggressive punchy style, supported by Pete Quinn on piano and Sue Cullen on vocals whose contributions on slower numbers like "May Morning Dew" add to the overall textures on what is already a fine piece of work. Why aren't they appearing up and down the land?

Hector Christie

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The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 43 of The Living Tradition magazine.