“Here’s the podcast about our old band. If you didn’t know about The Shanks, it’ll fill in some blanks and if you were there at the time I hope it gives you insight into our little adventures. I have to say genuine massive, massive thanks to Paul for giving the story his time and skill and the lovely way he framed it. If you listen I hope you enjoy it.”
Eoin Stan O’Sullivan (The Shanks)

“Brang, in effect, is a re-assemblage of songs heard of John Peel’s ‘Festive 50’ skewed into something that you could almost define as a unique sound. Like their predecessors on the Cork pop scene, Microdisney and The Frank & Walters, The Shanks somehow sound far removed from the prevailing sounds of their pop contemporaries.” NME

Episode Notes

Episode 27 of To Here Knows When - Great Irish Albums Revisited focuses on The Prawn Lawn & Brang by The Shanks.

I’m joined by Eoin Stan O’Sullivan for a long conversation all about The Shanks. There’s a lot of ground to cover, the band were together for almost 10 years. Stan and I chat about the beginnings of the band in Newmarket, the influence of the music they heard all around them growing up in North Cork; attending Newmarket’s Hiland Ballroom in the late 80s to witness gigs by An Emotional Fish, The Golden Horde, The 4 of Us and many, many others. We talk about touring the UK with The Sultans of Ping and losing their lead singer in 1992 as things were looking very positive. The Shanks regrouped and Stan and Mick took up singing duties. It took them a few years to get fully back on their feet but eventually they found a confidence and a unique identify and sound. Our chat takes in tours of Europe, supporting Suede on their Dog Man Star tour and recording two great Irish albums - The Prawn Lawn and Brang.

The Shanks were from Newmarket in North Cork, and geography is really important here because there was something in their North Cork DNA that set them apart from all the other Cork bands of the 1990s. They arrived in Cork a fully-formed outfit having spent a few years gigging all over North Cork and Kerry. They released the spectacular ‘Nothing Left to Go Home To’ on cassette, and for a few weeks in 1991 The Shanks traded places with Nirvana at the top of the Comet Records Chart in Cork. A demo tape and Nevermind – just let that sink in.

I saw them play some of their earliest gigs in Cork and just before Christmas 1999 I witnessed their last Cork City gig upstairs in Fred Zeppelins pub. They went out on a high playing to a small packed room of fans and friends - it was a great, great night. But it was also tinged with a sadness – here we were - the devoted – watching The Shanks call time on the adventure, but in our hearts we knew that they should have been HUGE.

They played one more gig down in Connolly’s of Leap down in West Cork just before the end of the millennium. And it was right that it all ended down in Connollys because in a way Paddy McNichol’s famed venue in Leap was The Shanks spiritual home. Their first album – 1994’s The Prawn Lawn was recorded in Connolly’s with Paddy and was released on Paddy’s own Rescue Records imprint.  

I saw The Shanks play in Leap, in fact I saw them play in venues all over the country on stages big and small. I saw them support everyone from Shellac to Suede. They even supported some of the bands we’ve covered on this podcast: The Sultans, Whipping Boy and The Franks. I probably saw The Shanks play in every live music venue in Cork – the City Hall, Sir Henrys, Nancy Spains, The Lobby, De Burca’s, and the Triskel Arts Centre, I saw them absolutely blow bands off the stage and I also witnessed them shambolically fall apart on stages too.

Stan formed Stanley Super 800 while Mick and Niall formed Rulers of the Planet – two more great Cork bands. Between them those bands released four albums any of which could easily feature on this podcast.

In recent years Stan has returned to Newmarket and has worked as an ambassador for the traditional music of Sliabh Luachra – that part of North Cork and East Kerry. A few years ago with Stan’s help I started producing a radio documentary all about the music of Sliabh Luachra and as part of that I ended up spending lots of time talking to Stan about The Shanks. A little bit of that was used in An Draíocht the finished Sliabh Luachra documentary broadcast on RTE Lyric FM recently - but loads of it wasn’t. So in this episode of the podcast you’ll hear a conversation between myself and Stan intercut with inserts recorded in Cork City and Newmarket Co. Cork.

Eoin Stan O’Sullivan on The Prawn Lawn

“We recorded The Prawn Lawn with the late Paddy McNicholl in Connolly’s of Leap over two or three sessions between August and November 1994. It might have added up to about a week’s work in total. It was mostly recorded live with sparse overdubs because Paddy’s setup at that time was limited to 8 tracks. It was the beginning of digital recordings and the ADAT machine we use took VHS video cassettes. The finished album had eleven tracks which came in under a half an hour - the longest track, ‘In the Morning Thing’, is an epic four minutes.

We had great times around the recording and its full youth, joy and craziness. I’ve been listening to it again tonight as I’m writing these few lines for wearenoise.com and I expected to be cringing and wincing but I must say it’s got plenty of balls and I’m really enjoying it – but that could be the glass of brandy talking so I better leave it there.

I have to say too that it’s full of daft lyrics and titles that were written while spending too much time smoking squidgy hash and slugging bargain bin Rioja. My favourite tracks are ‘Sun Dogs’, ‘In the Morning’ and ‘Heart of a Rhubarb’ and my only real regret is that the cover photography had to be black & white - due to a budget issue. It was the start of a great relationship between ourselves and Paddy who became a mentor to us.

We toured it from Dingle to Dresden and went on to make better records but this is the baby Shanks and I suppose everyone loves babies. I have to consult with Mick and Niall but I’d like to remaster it sometime soon for digital posterity.”
Eoin Stan O’Sullivan

Originally published on We Are Noise (19 December, 2012)

Mick Hayes on The Prawn Lawn

“Hard to believe it was so long ago now but The Prawn Lawn was our psychedelic rural hibernopunk groove, recorded in Leap with the late great Paddy McNicholl. We used to record all day and sleep out under the stars at night and we had a riot making it.

This was a time when techno and house were king and guitar bands weren’t really that cool but we were enjoying ourselves and a few other people also seemed to like it even though it was laden with nonsensical references and in-jokes – Going to make you a home in the heart of a rhubarb, Angular balls anyone? Well, I suppose we weren’t the only Cork band guilty of this, it’s just a pity we never got around to writing and recording its compendium The Haddock Paddock.”
Mick Hayes

Originally published on We Are Noise (19 December, 2012)

Brang

“Popular legend has it that the sound of Jamaican ska originated from bands trying to copy the pop music they hear on shortwave radio from America. Add a dash of inspiration and all of a sudden there was a whole new sound. Radio reception in Cork is no doubt a lot better than in Jamaica in the 60s, but Brang almost has the same quality.

Brang, in effect, is a re-assemblage of songs heard of John Peel’s ‘Festive 50’ skewed into something that you could almost define as a unique sound. Like their predecessors on the Cork pop scene, Microdisney and The Frank & Walters, The Shanks somehow sound far removed from the prevailing sounds of their pop contemporaries. At its most peculiar, one the didgeridoo-led ‘Crystal Clear’, The Shanks are like Gastr Del Sol with a Chieftains fixation, but even in their most lucid moments like on the brilliantly Fall-ish ‘Babbling’ they’re still fairly demented.

This, then, is the sound of low-key genius working in isolation, and while there’s almost too many ideas to work to allow Brang to work as a coherent whole, The Shanks have joined the dots of modern pop together to create an ingeniously perverse picture.”

NME

Jim Clancy - The Manager Speaks

“A major plus point for the band was that when they arrived on the Cork scene in 1991 they were the outsiders - nobody in the city had a clue about them. What really prepared The Shanks was the boot camp gigging that was the Abbey Inn in Tralee. Those gigs were three hours long - 2 sets of 90 minutes each with a short intermission. I can remember during the intermission two people would come in selling copies of An Phoblacht.

I can also remember Niall having to plaster up his fingers with incredible care and then wear a pair of football gloves. A favourite Leonard Cohen line of mine summed his process perfectly: ‘I readied myself for the struggle’. And ready he always was.

The Shanks began playing those gigs in January 1991. They played there most Fridays up until September 1991. Over the summer months they also played on some Saturday nights. The set was a mix of cover versions of Pixies, Hendrix, Dead Kennedys and The Jesus and Mary Chain songs, as well as some of their own tunes.

I always thought of The Shanks at the Abbey Inn in Tralee as our version of The Beatles at the Star-Club in Hamburg. It was a very unique place to play. It was always packed with an eclectic bunch of both desirable and undesirable characters. But it was from this that the lads learnt stage craft and conditioning. When The Shanks set foot in the Shelter for their first proper Cork gigs, the only worry we had was the sound might be off or the chance of a broken string.

What an adventure and the thing is we were all there for it, players one and all.”
Jim Clancy

For Further Listening/Reading:

The Prawn Lawn and Brang are available on Bandcamp.

For the Irish Examiner’s Ireland in 50 Albums series I’ve written about Brang…

Below is a collection of reviews, interviews and news items from various issues of Cork fanzines, Choc A Bloc and Zeitgeist.

The Shanks first demo tape is available here and The Shanks 1992 Fanning Session is available here.