People Street

Album Review

Previously a pivotal player in classic records by A Tribe Called Quest and Lucy Pearl, Ali Shaheed Muhammad isn't the first name you'd expect to be producing the debut album from a trio of Galway-based brothers whose sound is steeped in the "guilty pleasures" of the '80s glossy pop scene. But an unlikely pairing as it may be, People Street, the first offering by Daniel, Shane, and Oisin Cluskey, aka the Kanyu Tree, proves that musical opposites can attract. While the likes of "In My Drums," a convincingly funky attempt at acid jazz, and the string-soaked Northern soul of "Slow" aren't exactly a million miles away from Muhammad's more familiar urban comfort zone, most of its 12 tracks are unashamedly retro soft rock affairs that could have wandered in from a hits-laden '80s compilation. The title track combines Fleetwood Mac-esque synths with Tears for Fears-style guitar hooks and Paul Simon-esque Afro-beat harmonies, "Radio" borrows the infectious riff from the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" and merges it with some falsetto-led blue-eyed soul melodies, while there are echoes of Wet Wet Wet on "Something," Scritti Politti on "Can't Get Through" and Hall & Oates on "Congratulations." Originality might not be the album's strong point, therefore, but it's difficult to dislike a record that wears its retro intentions so firmly on its sleeve and, in doing so, pulls off its pastiches with aplomb. There are a couple of more contemporary offerings, such as the nimble Two Door Cinema Club-esque "Mariko" and the angular indie disco of "Shelf Life," while a remix from Jape turns the title track into a more percussive and ambient slice of downtempo electronica. But People Street is always at its strongest when it delves into the trio's less credible record collection, and while it may instill a few shudders from the hipster indie crowd, it's a relentlessly uplifting affair that, along with the recent record from Bressie, shows there's more to the Irish pop scene than bland boy band balladeers. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi