Album Review: Land Lovers – Romance Romance

Posted on 6th Aug 08 by Paddy Murphy | 1

Land Lovers released their debut album Romance Romance 4th August but it’s really a chap called Padraig Cooney from a nice part of Dublin working under an alias” some of you internet lovers may be familiar with the Land Lovers name as since the album was recorded Cooney has launched himself on a one”man crusade to find a band to play his tunes in a live setting.Sometimes an album is thrown your way that leaves you both elated and pissed off at the same time. Remember the first time you heard Clap You Hands blah blah or one of Radiohead‘s middle couple of albums or your first Sonic Youth record that one of your too-cool-for-skool mates made you buy” Well, it takes about 100 listens to fully appreciate the pure blood, sweat and tears that have gone into it. Is it wrong that we really want our weekend entertainers to fully suffer for their art. Do we really want them to lay themselves out bare in front of us so that we can pick the marrow, like the carrion savages we are, from their musical offerings

Cooney‘s Land Lovers suffer from the recorded in the bedroom syndrome simply because it was or rather according to the album sleeve; in two bedrooms one living room and one hallway. But what is so God damn infuriating about this “The home” made ethics only adds to the charm of every single track on Romance Romance. Another failing is the fact that so many songs are about that one subject that has been beaten and battered into an unholy deathly submission since time immortal: Love.

You can feel that every single note, beat and electro blip has been nurtured over for far too long

What has been sung about romance and love in recent decades that hasn’t already been sung before. Indeed Pearl Jam‘s reluctant warrior Mssr Vedder recently sung “I know it’s already been sung, can’t be said enough,  love is all you need, all you need is love“.

With that all in mind Cooney has poured his heart and soul into this record. You can feel that every single note, beat and electro blip has been nurtured over for far too long  he wants this be perfect and for that it isn’t but that’s what makes it all the better.

Opener Dark Secret posses the question whether there are double meanings behind people’s lyrics but wait is there double meaning to his own musings is Cooney trying to pull a fast one on us Hildegart No deals with the subject of Spanish child prodigy Hildegart Rodriguez‘s ignoring her childhood toys and choosing to play the violin instead and her toys loving her for it even though they are mostly left alone.

All pretty heavy themes until you come across a pure pop gem in Modern Romance “We met on really good terms, straight to the matter of swapping germs,  swapping of phrases was feeble” 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.

Maybe you won’t find Romance Romance as hard to get into as this cold hearted reviewer but it did melt some of the ice off the echoey caverns of that small muscle located in the chest. At times Depeche Mode and New Order at others Clap Your Hands…. and Mercury Rev and even, sorry, Snow Patrol but this record is outstandingly honest for a debut and that in itself is something that should be rewarded.

Drop-d Rating 9/10

Land Lovers Myspace

Tags: land lovers, padraig cooney, romance romance