Record review

Eclectic Honey

1 Jul 2002

Oh Happy Day

One of the remarkable things about the new Irish music scene, is fortunately there is not too much of an overlap between bands. Estel may have post-rock sensibilities and they sound like they've probably shared a few pints with the Redneck Manifesto, but the similarities stop there. The same goes for Stoat, who seem to have found their own patch of musical terrain to furrow.

Oh Happy Day is a slice of modern pop-rock genius, with a ready-made prescription and remedy for life that centres on throwing your dog in the canal, putting the children into care and scrawling your last words on the back of a toilet door. Yes by now you may have guessed that Stoat are fine purveyors of the irony movement, as perfected by Pavement. So much so that listening to Oh Happy Day makes you want to run down to T-shirt Print just so you can have "I want to be the smell of cheap perfume" or "I want to be a pair of brand new pants" emblazoned on your chest. Second track Boys and Girls is probably the first song to make Enniscorthy the new capital of the rock n' roll world, and somehow it all seems believable. It's seldom enough that bands manage to put a smile on your face, and when you come across one you should grab it with both hands. Like the parting tenet on Boys and Girls, "the world needs what we can give it today," and hopefully somewhere along the line that involves Stoat.

[Original article: http://www.eclectichoney.com/stoat.html]