Paul Molloy - The Madmen Of Apocalypso

 

It is hard to believe that the splendid debut album from Paul Molloy, The Fifth Dandelion was four years ago. You can read our review here. Since then, The Coral has taken up a lot of Molloy's time, so it is delightful to finally have a follow up.

The Madmen Of Apocalypso is different to that debut, just as melodic, but not as Psych Pop and more. There is much more Pop here, influenced by a myriad of styles. For instance, Apocalypso is a calypso, all Brass and swing, wonderfully if a little surprisingly.

Luxury Bunker is more vaudeville, Music Hall like, but also contains Spaghetti Western Brass. So that's the two singles dealt with, what about the other nine songs. Well, Hey Nancy is part McCartney Piano Pop, part Ukelele thirties all together now fayre.

In similar fashion, Doomsday Bottle Of Wine is pure Ragtime and Apocalypse Rag is something that you might expect on a Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band album. Little Green Man is pre Beatles 60s Pop, a little Larry Parnes prodigy with a Joe Meek keyboard run.

There is still Psych Pop on show. Dolly The Sheep is splendidly so, whilst Absent Friends is all together now strumming 70s Pop Rock. Silicon Valley is singer songwriter American and Artificial Intelligence returns to the Jeeves And Wooster territory.

The album is described as a musical satire and I get that, but there is a real pop sensibility here that crosses across a century. It leaves you realising how much great music there was before Rock and Roll. Wonderfully performed and arranged, The Madmen Of Apocalypso is something that you couldn't imagine being in anyone else's hands. Magnificent!

You can buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl and CD. You can listen to all 11 songs here. It is also available on the links here.

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