Eugene McGuinness - Bold Street Single Review

Eugene McGuinness
Bold Street
Single Review

The young McGuinness has been praised in these pages before for his idiosyncratic lyrical style, and this new single does nothing to dispel the view. 'Bold Street' (not too far from Myrtle Parade, for those of you more familiar with McGuinness than with Liverpool) is an anti-Penny Lane, a despairing modern counterpoint to the Beatles' celebration of everyday life, where in place of a pretty nurse selling poppies from a tray, we have "Burberry check, kerbside sex and police cars", and far from enjoying the street in one's ears and eyes, McGuinness cries out "I always find myself on this road" in frustrated incomprehension . There's even a cheeky nod to his legendary predecessors, as Mean Mr Mustard is heard playing from a "fake American diner", further emphasising the ersatz nature of much of modern life's fripperies. Sonically more subdued than the brilliant Monsters Under The Bed, this is still a superior slice of acoustic pop from the 21 year-old. B-side 'Hangman' is more of the same quirky melodic ruminations, instantly drawing the listener in from the opening line before throwing in manic female backing vocals and an early-'90's Cure rhythm. A full-length release surely scheduled for 2008, McGuinness's stock will continue to rise.

Owen Lloyd