Liam Dullaghan - Making History

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 3 / 3 / 2011

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Review

Three years after his folk/pop combo the Havenots broke up, songwriter Liam Dullaghan’s worries didn’t concern his future as a recording artist, but they went far deeper than that. Having returned penniless from an ill-fated expedition to make his band’s third album in the US, he was left without anywhere to live and took up residence in his parent’s garage. His guitars were sold, and he found work mending radios in his local hospital. During this time, he went back to the albums that had persuaded him to begin writing songs in the first place - Weezer’s 'Blue Album', Wilco’s 'Summerteeth', Big Star’s 'Third' and the Replacements’ 'Let It Be'. But it wasn’t until he met and began working with the multi-instrumentalist Lee Russell that he began to turn these favourites into the inspiration for a new set of songs. “Finally I’d met someone as stupid as me”, he says of his friendship with Russell. After three years of writing and recording, the pair have finally readied ‘Making History’. For the most part, the near hopelessness of his situation seems to have pushed Dullaghan towards the bleak and sad parts of his favourite albums, more ‘Holocaust’ than ‘Thank You Friends’. The epic title track is gently strummed and nearly mumbled, as if Dullaghan’s parents were trying to sleep upstairs while it was recorded. It details a relationship in a small town, and its tone of weary resignation suggests that - in spite of the title - Dullaghan knows he’d be better off somewhere else. But, despite lasting for more than six months, the combination of the gentle voice and Russell’s lilting string part is delightful. Don’t be fooled by his love of Weezer - for the most part these songs make no attempt at any Buddy Holly styled catchiness. Instead, they are much better suited to a late night, low light headphone session. Variety comes from two soaring power-pop tunes, ‘I’m Just Fucked Without You’ and ‘Paradise Beach’. But, the minor key melancholy is what you’ll go back to this album for. Whether or not he proves to have made history. Dullaghan has no reason to regret buying himself another guitar.

Track Listing:-

1 Radio Verona
2 What If We Win
3 Choirs Of Angel Sang
4 New Barcelona
5 Ribbons And Shreds
6 Paradise Beach
7 I Fell Through The Night Like A Stone
8 I'm Just Fucked Without You
9 Rotten Apples
10 Leaves On The Line
11 Making History
12 It's You Or Me Cried The Moon