This split 7” features two very different artists from Dublin: Paul O’Reilly is a softly sung singer songwriter and (retards) are no wave disco funk electronica or something along those lines. This is a bit of a lukewarm release, not bad but not essential by any means.

 

Plastic Donkey

This is my first time hearing O’Reilly and, while I’m not particularly bowled over by it, “Take Care of Each Other” is a nice, simple song. The keyboard melody backed by a drum machine is delicate and relaxing and his lyrics are engaging but it didn’t really click with me. I’d have to hear more of his work to make my mind up on whether I like him or not.

As for (retards), “Ich bin ein Shitlander” is a bit of a break from their usual headfuck. It starts off with a minute or so of a discordant refrain which doesn’t go anywhere in particular. It then breaks into the song proper which sounds more familiar but lacks the full noisy assault that they normally employ; usually samplers and synthesiser are rattling my skull. However a new drummer does bring a new element to their sound that is promising. As I know (retards) are capable of better, this release wouldn’t be top of my list of tracks to recommend to someone unfamiliar with them.



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