Pugwash

An Irish band that's won an international cult following among fans of classic British Invasion and power pop sounds, Pugwash was formed by <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Thomas Walsh</a>, a serious fan of <a href="spotify:artist:2qT62DYO8Ajb276vUJmvhz">XTC</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3oDbviiivRWhXwIE8hxkVV">the Beach Boys</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">the Beatles</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7jefIIksOi1EazgRTfW2Pk">Electric Light Orchestra</a> who soon found himself earning the respect of some of his heroes. Born in 1969 in Drimnagh, a suburb of Dublin, <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> was inspired to pick up the guitar when he was 15 after watching his brother play, and as he became more confident with the instrument, he built a shed in his backyard that he filled with makeshift recording gear and used as a studio. After <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> had committed dozens of songs to tape, he submitted some of his material to Hot Press, Ireland's leading rock magazine, which declared <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a>'s tape Demo of the Year. The attention led to <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> being approach by American producer and record man <a href="spotify:artist:6AgAlEkTLN4m5ZERuhiWnk">Kim Fowley</a>, who made <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> his representative in Ireland and began promoting his songwriting, as well as teaming him with fellow Irish tunesmith <a href="spotify:artist:1vFzARYyZ1oRMkVzyA8KLN">Andy White</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> formed Pugwash as a vehicle for his songs, and brought aboard bassist Keith Farrell and drummer Johnny Boyle to fill out the lineup. After landing a deal with the Irish independent label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Velo+Records%22">Velo Records</a>, Pugwash recorded their debut album, Almond Tea, and just a few weeks after its release in 1999, Hot Press put it on their list of best albums of the millennium, coming in at a very respectable number 23. After touring as an opening act for pop legends <a href="spotify:artist:5c5k4HGf7XSkb2MHKgOiNG">Glen Tilbrook</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5DSSaD2HBvTDwGTsxLGjHb">Jason Falkner</a>, the band returned to the studio to record their second full-length, 2002's Almanac. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Velo+Records%22">Velo Records</a> soon went out of business, and the third Pugwash album, Jollity, was released in 2005 by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%221969+Records%22">1969 Records</a>; the album featured <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> and Farrell accompanied by a long list of guest musicians, including Dave Gregory of <a href="spotify:artist:2qT62DYO8Ajb276vUJmvhz">XTC</a>. The album also included the song "Nice to be Nice," which so impressed <a href="spotify:artist:3oDbviiivRWhXwIE8hxkVV">Beach Boys</a> founder <a href="spotify:artist:4Q82S0VzF8qlCb4PnSDurj">Brian Wilson</a> that he insisted on meeting <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> when a U.K. tour brought him to Dublin.

2008's Eleven Modern Antiquities once again saw <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> and Farrell joined by a copious number of guests, including Dave Gregory and <a href="spotify:artist:4QeOiHDqIpzHpbfxz4dc9X">Andy Partridge</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:2qT62DYO8Ajb276vUJmvhz">XTC</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2l63iudiU3bT4p94a2hHa4">Neil Hannon</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:7EV6jW6dotBdvsHj6xPixi">the Divine Comedy</a>, and American pop heroes <a href="spotify:artist:4GcBbZ5wVhNABLzm4MpJqG">Michael Penn</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5DSSaD2HBvTDwGTsxLGjHb">Jason Falkner</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0nB3pjuIbbeEA3Gzg0F8Hw">Eric Matthews</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:4QeOiHDqIpzHpbfxz4dc9X">Partridge</a> declared in an interview, "Pugwash, at their best, are almost <a href="spotify:artist:3WrFJ7ztbogyGnTHbHJFl2">Beatle</a>-like in their greatness…they are that good," and negotiated to reissue their early albums through his own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ape+House%22">Ape House</a> label. Though the new editions didn't make it to the marketplace, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ape+House%22">Ape House</a> did release a career-spanning "Best of Pugwash" compilation, 2009's Giddy. For 2011's The Olympus Sound, Pugwash unveiled a new lineup, which featured <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> on vocals, guitar, and keyboards, Tosh Flood on guitar and keys, Shaun "Mac" McGee on bass, and Joey Fitzgerald on drums and percussion; the album also featured piano work from <a href="spotify:artist:55tif8708yyDQlSjh3Trdu">Ben Folds</a>. Despite their growing cult following, Pugwash had seen very little of their material distributed in the United States, and the respected U.S. reissue label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Omnivore+Records%22">Omnivore Records</a> came to the rescue in the fall of 2014, releasing the compilation A Rose in a Garden of Weeds: A Preamble Through the History of Pugwash, which was assembled with <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a>'s participation. In September 2015, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Omnivore%22">Omnivore</a> issued Play This Intimately (As If Among Friends), which included cameos from <a href="spotify:artist:6spXkXEP6teMn2cu9sWbBR">Ray Davies</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2l63iudiU3bT4p94a2hHa4">Neil Hannon</a>, as well as a shout from <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a>'s hero <a href="spotify:artist:3bTAaMx9nf237AkBnGw3vL">Jeff Lynne</a>. After the album's release, that lineup of Pugwash fell apart, and for <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a>'s next project, 2017's Silverlake, he teamed with <a href="spotify:artist:5DSSaD2HBvTDwGTsxLGjHb">Jason Falkner</a>, who produced the session and played most of the instruments. During his downtime from Pugwash, <a href="spotify:artist:4eniDiCsLxVd4FVQkTYA1O">Walsh</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2l63iudiU3bT4p94a2hHa4">Hannon</a> perform and record as <a href="spotify:artist:2bKNCvT2PgFZDxz0X3ydnZ">the Duckworth Lewis Method</a>, an acoustic duo specializing in songs about cricket. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi