TPOE 318: A Lazarus Soul

The Point of Everything

A Lazarus Soul released their latest album No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens on July 5 via Bohemia Records. Frontman and lyricist Brian Brannigan talks though all of the 10 tracks that make up the record on this episode of the TPOE podcast. --- A Lazarus Soul tour dates August 23: Coughlan's, Cork August 24: Cleere's, Kilkenny August 25: National Museum, Collins Barracks, Dublin (supporting The The) October 26: Vicar Street, Dublin --- Press release: No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens, (named after a line from The Fall’s 'Psykick Dancehall', aptly, as this line-up of A Lazarus Soul came together specifically for a 2011 tribute to that band) is a meditation on wilderness, nature and spirit. Brannigan’s lyrics, written during long walks across the Bog of Allen and along the Royal canal, have never been more masterful, reaching new heights of visceral, unflinching song-writing. Brannigan is at the peak of his powers here, capable of turning from eviscerating fury to unexpected moments of tenderness and heartbreak in a single couplet. Songs of police brutality (Black Maria) sit side by side with loving portraits of Moore Street dealers (The Dealers) and thrilling blow-by-blow accounts of three-day benders, worthy of Flann O’Brien (Wildflowers). There is humanity at the heart of all of these songs, even the vicious teacher, meeting out physical abuse on his pupils finds some kind of understanding in Factory Fada. Musically, No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens, is the sound of a band on fire, unleashed after a long period of separation. It is the sound of a band relishing being together once more. Importantly, for a record about wildness, it is a fiercely honest record, made in an old-fashioned way with as little technological interference as possible. Like many of their favourite records, you can hear the mistakes. The approach pays off, especially on GIM, which blossomed from first hearing to the recorded version in just two hours. From the thrilling garage drums and bass of opener, 'Black Maria', to the sparkling electric guitar lines of 'The Flower I Flung Into Her Grave', 'The Dealers’ acoustic guitars and strings, the wild harmonium and bowed guitars of 'Wildflowers', to the dreamy 'Diver Walsh' and the Sonic Youth-meets-Richard Thompson 'Factory Fada', this is surely the band’s most musically ambitious record to date. --- Buy No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens: https://alazarussoul.bandcamp.com/album/no-flowers-grow-in-cement-gardens-2