CORRIGAN are undoubtedly one of the stranger, bug-eyed units currently doing the rounds on the toilet circuit at present, but their vivid, skewhiff art-punk is a welcome antidote to all the Datsuns wannabes currently clogging the firmament.
Recorded at the infamous Chem 19 studio in Hamilton, Scotland (previous hatching house for Cayto, Arab Strap and Reindeer Section among others), "How To Hang Off A Rope" is an alarming, disparate and often engaging debut from this county Fermanagh sextet, who clearly have no problem in chucking a whole range of influences into their sonic stewpot.
The end results are usually quite startling, but the by-products aren't always pleasant. Tracks like the opening "We're The Wire", "Forget It" and "My Head Does Dances" will surely be as persuasive as a yard of swinging demolition balls in a tight moshpit situation, but on record they're one-dimensional thrashers. "McArthur" is cut from the same cloth, but it's much better, coming on like The Ruts slamming a Panzer battalion into an Orange Lodge meeting, while the single "Sometimes I Think About"'s bizarre zen musings makes a welcome reappearance.
Cerebrally, Corrigan make more (non)sense when they slow it down a bit. Christ knows what they're on about, but "America Is Waiting" is close-miked, urgent and a slowburning treat with the whole band forcefully starring. The moment they crunch into the final crescendo is one of the record's most thrilling.
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Martin J.Corrigan's a fine, surreal storyteller, too, as tracks like "McArthur" (Flann O'Brien meets Dave Couse), "Astroman" and the excellent "Water Ballad" prove. He tells me one of his goals is to successfully mutate Johnny Cash with Slint and the evocative Morricone-isms of "Water Ballad" almost get there. The tornado guitar solo in the middle is also something to behold.
In truth, much of "How To Hang Off A Rope" tries too hard to impress with its' quirky intensity, but any band who can achieve the delicacy of "Crumble", the manic charisma of "Water Ballad" and the downright lunacy of "Rope" must have something going for them. This is to be filed under "promising" rather than "full-on success", but overall "How To Hang Off A Rope" is life-affirming rather than suicidal.
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