FIRST RELEASES:
Since releasing their debut power-pop album in 1999, 'Almond Tea', Pugwash, aka songwriter Thomas Walsh and friends, has become an instant favourite of Irish and British music critics alike, many of whom nominated 'Almond Tea' as their album of the year. The Hotpress rated it - only 4 weeks after its release - as one of the Top 30 albums of the Millennium (actually #23, ahead of Suede, Orbital and almost everybody else you'd care to name!) As a result, Thomas Walsh has been singled out by many critics as one of the most talented new songwriters to emerge on the Irish scene in recent years.
'Finer Things In Life', (April 2000) further enhanced Pugwash's place in the Irish media, was voted Single of the Fortnight in both The Hotpress and The Dublin Event Guide, and A-Listed on both national and local radio (FM104, Phantom etc.), while the video, produced by Enda O'Looney (Planet Rock Profiles etc.), featured on No Disco and 2TV, the band appeared live on The Late Late Show and other top shows on RTE, BBC & TG4. Thomas Walsh has since become a regular guest celebrity on The Vinyl Curtain (John Kelly, Radio One).
LIVE SHOWS:
Meantime Pugwash played stand-out headline gigs throughout Ireland, in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford and Kerry, following on from a nationwide radio tour with additional stops in Sligo, Limerick, Longford and Dundalk, receiving rave reviews that echo fully the response of critics to the album. Support gigs included high-profile appearances with Jason Falkner (ex-Jellyfish), Glen Tilbrook (ex-Squeeze), Cotton Mather, and Martin Stephenson, among others.
By the end of 2000, Pugwash was hailed in Ireland as an undoubted critical success among the music cognescenti and the fans of power-pop alike, though popular acclaim had yet to follow, and as far as the wider public were concerned the band remained bubbling under as one of Dublin's "best-kept secrets".
RECORDING THE SECOND ALBUM:
Undimmed in confidence, 2001 saw Thomas Walsh returning to the studio with his old mate Keith Farrell, who had so successfully co-produced 'Almond Tea', to begin work on Pugwash's "Difficult Second Album" (actually its working title!). Working in a comfortable domestic set-up allowed these two play with the toys, get in their friends and take their time to turn out a splendid mix of songs, some old, some new, that demonstrate once again Walsh's strength in depth as a songwriter of classic pop.
The result, after 18 months, is 'Almanac', Pugwash's second album, once more on the indie Irish VÉLO label. Following the radio release of key track 'Apples' in April, the album itself has been put on release in Ireland from 21 June 2002.
THE NEXT PHASE:
This time out, the media knew what to expect, and the response has been immediate and universal: in Thomas Walsh Pugwash has a master song-writer, a key performer and, together with Keith Farrell and musician partners, Duncan Maitland, Shaun McGee, and Aidan, aided by many other top young musicians in the Dublin scene, and special guest Jason Falkner (of Jellyfish), a dream team both in studio and on stage.
This time out, VÉLO has launched the Pugwash official web-site (http://www.pugwashtheband.com) as well as calling on the considerable critical recognition that 'Almond Tea' has created, to get the Pugwash sound out there on a new level.
Live, the band are gearing up for a busy Summer and an even busier Autumn, with a whole series of regular appearances in key Dublin venues, including headlines at The Sugar Club, The Isaac Butt, and more, with lots of live radio, PA-in-stores, and regular press interviews, all aimed at building up a core fan base in Dublin and beyond. The band plans to move out again to the key venues across Ireland, backed by local radio. Autumn should see top line TV appearances, and a college-led nationwide tour. It's all to play for.
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