As I was reading through the liner notes for the wonderfully titled Quare Groove – A Collection of Irish Groove, Punk Funk and Electro, released last week on All City Records I was reminded of the hours and hours I spent going through the Irishrock.org website over the years. An exhaustive archive on Irish bands, labels and compilations stretching back decades and decades, I first came across it before you would – or could? – cross check any music you’d discover with a Youtube search. Indeed, I’m guessing that much of the music referenced on the site is still not available on that platform. I imagined that much of the music probably wasn’t up to much, but that wasn’t that important, it just showed you how much Irish music – much of it independently released – existed, especially compared with how much is collectively remembered and referenced today. It came as little surprise that at the end of the liner notes of Quare Groove, Irishrock was referenced as this compilation brings some of its band / artist pages to life in a fascinating archival piece that doesn’t ever trade quality for curio.
The only names that instantly jumped out at me as recognisable were Stano and Micro Disney. MicroDisney is without a doubt the most well known of the acts on display, yet they appear in an early incarnation here, with the sprightly spurt of Leper closing out the compilation. Stano appeared on the only other collection similar to this, 2012’s Strange Passion, which took a punkier, more left field look at early 80’s Ireland. Quare Groove as it’s title says, is all about the groove.
This is possibly never more potent than in the opening salvo, Pumphouse Gang’s Welcome Back Into My Life. A sleek, catchy disco number, no one would ever think this is the work of Irish musicians, especially from a time – the late 70s – where rock n roll ruled the airwaves of the country. Running at just under 4 minutes, I can’t think of many other Irish songs screaming out for an Extended 12 inch Disco Version quite like this does.
Throughout the following 7 songs, Quare Groove slowly moves through the years and genres that were revolutionising dance music, reflecting the emergence and development of disco, post-disco funk and electro. Most importantly it takes itself seriously. There isn’t paddy-whackery on show at any stage, this the work of talented, earnest musicians creating songs in an environment where they would have been rarely recognised or respected by the country’s mainstream. The quality of many the recordings is noticeable too. I’m sure the remastering has helped, but it feels contrary to much of the small, independent recordings made by Irish rock bands of my youth, which would often sound amateurish compared with that of their international counterparts. Entries by Sunshine and Natural Wild bristle with energy and swing, the result of being recorded in state of the art studios. It should also be noted that all of the music was originally released independently. No Irish wings of the majors are seen to be helping out these musicians.
There is a rougher feel to the more electronically focused songs by Stano and Barry Warner, yet as examples of very early attempts by Irish artists to create work in smaller, synthesiser-based environments they still stand up. Before these two artists comes the compilation highlight, Those Nervous Animals’ “Hyperspace” which fittingly bridges the gap between the early more traditional-band focused songs and those that lean more heavily on electronics.
For the final side of the release we see the band as recognisable entity return in the skittish funk of Some Kind of Wonderful’s Just Like Me before Micro Disney’s aforementioned closer Leper, yet it produces some of the albums most idiosyncratic music. Leper is arguably the only song on the compilation that is quite obviously Irish due to Cathal Coughlan’s noticeable brogue. It all seems on purpose though, as the album follows Irish musicians replicating – and that isn’t meant disparagingly – outside influences and genres before finally being defiantly Irish in their delivery.
We are living in a time where breathing new life into music archives has never been so prevalent; where the continued obsession with reissues is actually impinging on the life of brand new music. One can easily sit here and criticise Quare Groove for doing the same, but it’s unusual that the light is shone on long lost Irish music like this. These aren’t rare songs that go for silly money on discogs, this is music that was lost in time from a country that has never been cool in groove-based circles, right up to this day. Do you think any of the uber-cool “selectors” traversing the globe with their bags of uber-rare afrobeat records have ever thought of digging through Irish archives. Not a chance. Even most Irish people wouldn’t think of doing it but Quare Groove shows that digging in the least obvious of places can sometimes be the most rewarding.