From the world

J*** S***** is a H*m*s*x*l (1989)

Personnel:

Alasdair (Bod) Mackay: Guitar; Vocals; Drums

Roddy (Huggan) Huggan: Vocals, Drums, Guitar

Iain (Deadstone) Livingstone : Bass; Drums; Chanter; Vocals

Roddy (Bingo) Macdonald : Accordion on “Intro"

Recorded in the Livingstones' sitting room, Xmas/New Year 1989. This was the last full length Guireans release before the lean years of the 1990s. In some ways it was perhaps their least bad, topping even 1984's "Calan Bow Gets Run Over" for consistency. At least until the 3 tracks after "Whenever M*rdo Al*x Shines His Light On Me", which are characteristically pathetic.

The full title is apparently: “Tormod B** said that J*** S*** is a H*m*s*x**l and He Was a Sailor So Who Are We to Argue?” (Names have been changed to protect the innocent).

Among the dross “Time of the Simes” mangles the Artist Formerly Known As’s “Sign of the Times” – with its searing social analysis of life in the ‘hood – “A bunch of 17 year old ceards/And their idea of fun/Is bein’ in a gang called the D***** boys/High on cac, and stealin’ corrugated I-ron”

"I Don't Want A Bomber" twists Texas' debut hit into a dirge contrasting Stornoway Swinger of A Certain Age (now reformed) Bomber with his earnest aspiring Labour apparatchik cousin Roddy: "I don't want a Bomber - I just need Ma-hen... 'Cos Roddy Goes to Nicaragua, and comes back again/Bomber goes out picking up the chicks, but Roddy goes off picking coffee for..." you get the idea.

"I Wanna Know if You Are Holy" rewrites Husker Du's 1986 classic as an anthem to the old Leodhasach drink/religion dilemma; heading for the Free Church on Kenneth Street on a Sunday evening the protagonist is tempted by the doorway, tacitly ajar, of a nearby public bar. And "Some Sandy Talking", a Jesus and Mary Chain pastiche, switches (imperceptibly - which isn't surprising, really) into an attack on the Velvet Underground's "Heroin": "Herr-ri-ing - be the death of me/He-rri-ing - gotta have it for my tea/And my breakfast and my dinner/bring it to the boil and let it simmer/Cos when I get it served up on a plate/I feel like I'm turning into a skate/When I put that fork into a fin/I feel like the Jesus and Mary Cha-in/And when I'm full up and I got the runs/Then I feel like M*rd* Al*x's son..." etc

Tracks

1. Intro

2. I Wanna Know if You Are Holy (Husker Mucus for Dubh People)

3. Feed The Sheep

4. Chirsty

5. Some Sandy Talking