WHEN DAVID Bowie entered the studio to record what would become Station To Station he had no songs written and little idea what he wanted to do.
Ahead of The Jam recording All Mod Cons in 1978, Paul Weller suffered an intense bout of writer’s block, while the year before, Jeff Lynn was bereft of ideas for the new ELO album until he witnessed a sunrise over the Alps and ‘Mr Blue Sky’ began to sound in his head.
The phenomenon of an artist going from ‘I’ve nothing to say’ to ‘Where is this all coming from?’ has, on occasion, led to some of rock’s most memorable albums. It is a scenario which also applies to But What Has That Done To The Scores?, the new album by So Cow (Tuam indie-punk/garage rock singer-songwriter Brian Kelly ), arguably his strongest release in years. However, it was an album Brian never intended to make.
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“My way of starting this album was by announcing to anyone who would listen at the very start of the year that I wasn't recording any music in 2020,” Brian tells me. “I had no song ideas, no band, no free time beyond work and parenting. Then half-way through January, in the space of about a week, I'd written 16 or so songs out of nowhere. It was just the music, no lyrics. I was half-annoyed with myself because I really did plan on just not bothering with music for the year.”
Finding himself with new songs, Brian acquiesced, and planned to record them with Barry Richardson (Porkstore ) on bass and Simon McDonagh (ex-Oh Boland ) on drums. He created demos “to give them a guide of what I was up to” and had the drums and bass completed when “everything kicked off majorly with the virus”.
“I said to them I was going to finish this one myself, and would write more songs with them in mind for whenever we are out of this insanity,” says Brian. “I did borrow Barry's bass guitar right before lockdown, and I still have it. I assume I'll be able to return it to him sometime this decade.”
‘It made sense to focus on that’
It was the Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown which provided Brian with the lyrical inspiration he needed. Indeed, But What Has That Done To The Scores? is probably the first full length artistic statement by an Irish creative to explore and assess life during this pandemic.
“I miss the noises most...not much room to move” (opening track ‘The Other Chord’ ); “Sat here on my own with nowt to do, wishing I could be there with you” (‘Auto Scan’ ). “The bass and drums were recorded in peacetime,” says Brian. “The guitars and vocals were done while wearing a mask and eyeing strangers with suspicion.”
Not that Covid-19 was the writer’s first choice of theme. “One idea was a concept album about Monsignor James Horan and the building of Knock Airport,” says Brian. “Then I saw on Wikipedia it's already been done. That was devastating. I needed lyrics just as the restrictions came in, so it made sense to focus on that. I don't mention the virus at any point though. I was wary of knocking people over the head with it. Also, it'd be weird to write about lads in the pub. There are no lads in the pub.”
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The most startling song on the album is ‘Exercise’, which paints a bleak, also dystopian, picture of a city under military control, with near deserted streets.
“It came from the last walk I had around Tuam town before the lockdown, everything was beginning to close,” says Brian. “It was super quiet. I walked down High Street and there was no one about. The only other thing I've experienced like it was in Seoul. Every now and again there would be a nuclear drill, or whenever North Korea started making threats. It just seemed like tanks could start coming down the street. It's definitely not from a 'the lizard people are taking over' conspiracy angle. Really should stress that.”
‘A Thin Lizzy switch in the back of my head’
While lyrically it may be somber, musically the album is brimming with catchy, hook laden, songs, which fuse the melodic with DIY garage-punk.
“I'm not setting out to be particularly melodic,” admits Brian. “I don't think about melodies too much, but it's not something I have to try too hard with. Songs for me have to be quick, have some bounce to them, have some kind of a hook - something that sticks in your head but isn't immediately obvious either. I love a band from California called Game Theory, from the 1980s - kinda the perfect mix of melodic and unusual. I've spent the last three albums or so ripping them off.”
That melodic sense is also put to good use in the aforementioned ‘Auto Scan’, which features some sweet twin lead harmony guitars a la Thin Lizzy. “Any time I do harmony lines, there's a Lizzy switch in the back of my head that gets flipped,” says Brian. “I bought a Thin Lizzy best of when I was 10 or 11, so it's all stuck somewhere in the back of my head.”
'There'll be a ‘Now That I Am 38’ on the next album. I guess it'll be about mortgage applications and benign cysts'
Not every song on But What Has That Done To The Scores? is about the Coronavirus. ‘Now That I Am 37’ addresses a favourite Kelly theme - ageing, and finds him taking a wry and good humoured look at it.
“It's either confront it or just depart reality and start writing godawful songs called 'Black Magic Voodoo Lady' or something,” he says. “Ageing is interesting, and it's noticeable - going bald, getting grey hairs in my beard, feeling knackered the whole time. It's pretty good material to write about.
“When someone is in their twenties, and attractive, and singing about wanting to leave their retail job or something, I get nothing out of that, but I'd probably read a three-novel series about someone's knee issues. Every album from now on is going to continue that series. There'll be a ‘Now That I Am 38’ on the next album. I guess it'll be about mortgage applications and benign cysts and things like that. Hard-rocking stuff.”
Brian also admits to having a song title, 'Local Councillor Meeting Attendance Rate Blues' tucked away in a notebook. “I've yet to make anything of it,” he says. “Maybe a hard house track or something.” Hopefully, like the song about his next birthday, it will appear on the next So Cow album.
