Pugwash (band)

Pugwash

Pugwash is an Irish pop band fronted by Drimnagh-born musician Thomas Walsh. Pugwash has released four albums since its acclaimed debut LP Almond Tea in 1999. The band signed a five-year deal with XTC founding member Andy Partridge's label Ape House in 2009.

History

Using the money from a compensation award following a childhood accident, Walsh set up a recording facility in a shed in his parents' garden. He later claimed he was inspired to do so after hearing that musical hero Andy Partridge of XTC had retired from touring and recorded his music at home in a shed. In the early 1990s, Walsh adopted Pugwash as a stage name and began recording some 150 demos to 4-track and, in 1995, one of those was named Demo of the Year by Irish music magazine Hot Press. The recognition led to an introduction to US producer and musician Kim Fowley, who asked Walsh to play guitar for him live and in studio. Fowley then introduced Walsh to Irish singer-songwriter Andy White, with whom Walsh would go on to tour.

Using these as learning experiences, Walsh turned his full attention to writing and recording as Pugwash and in 1997 he signed a record deal with the now defunct Vélo Records. In 1999, Pugwash released debut album Almond Tea, which was co-produced by Walsh and Keith Farrell. Within four weeks of its release it had been placed at No 23 in a list of the top albums of the millenium in Hot Press magazine. Following postive reviews for Almond Tea, Pugwash embarked on lengthy tour of Ireland, supporting numerous visiting artists including Television and Grant-Lee Phillips.

In 2002, Pugwash released second album Almanac. Again co-produced by Walsh and Farrell and featuring contributions from Air and Beck collaborator Jason Falkner, Almanac was another collection of similarly melodic and retro-styled songs which invited comparisons to classic 1960s and 1970s pop. The album caught the ear of Andy Partridge, who would go on to name the single Apples as the most exciting track he had heard that year. Almanac track Anyone Who Asks would later be used prominently in the 2008 Hollywood movie Pride and Glory, starring Edward Norton and Colin Farrell. In 2003, Australian label Karmic Hit released a compilation of remastered tracks from the first two Pugwash albums, entitled Earworm. The same year, Pugwash returned to the studio to record a follow-up to Almanac and was involved with the setting up of 1969 Records with Daragh Bohan. The label would go on to release the next two Pugwash albums.

Discography

Studio albums

• Almond Tea (1999)
• Almanac (June 2002)
• Jollity (September 2005)
• Eleven Modern Antiquities (March 2008)

Compilations

• Earworm (2003)
• Giddy (September 2009)

Singles

From Almond Tea:

• "The Finer Things in Life" (2000)

From Almanac:

• "Apples" (April 2002)

From Jollity:

• "It's Nice to be Nice" (2005)
• "This Could Be Good" (March 2006)

As 'Pugwash and Friends':

• "Tinsel and Marzipan" (December 2006)

From Eleven Modern Antiquities:

• "Take Me Away" (February 2008)
• "At the Sea" (2008)