The group draw on a highly idiosyncratic brand of Americana not usually found on the syllabus for Irish bands, particularly the analogue bubble-bath of Grandaddy.
Indeed, as the title indicates, the all-round air of modern decay that so suffuses the Modesto boys’s records is an especially strong theme running through this record. A Lazarus Soul could have easily called it Life In The So-Called Space Age, had the excellent (and now sadly defunct, following the tragic death of David Reilly) God Lives Underwater not already beaten them to it.
The group’s icy, austere brand of art-rock and mordant portraits of social breakdown (“Some people call us low life, on these streets blood has spilled”) make for consistently engaging listening. Produced by Joe Chester (an accomplished solo artist in his own right), the album’s urban vignettes hark back to the darker moments of Suede and The Auteurs, but Briany Branningan’s imaginative compositions give the album a distinctive, experimental texture and firmly align the band with American indie mavericks like DNTel.
A killer tune or two short of greatness, Graveyard Of Burnt Out Cars is nonetheless likely to be one the strongest debut albums released by an Irish act this year.