Pugwash - The Olympus Sound (Vinyl)

The fifth album from Dublin power pop institution Pugwash, and for many their masterpiece. Recorded at Exchequer Studios and co-produced by Thomas Walsh and Tosh Flood, it arrived on a wave of momentum from Walsh's Ivor Novello-nominated Duckworth Lewis Method project with Neil Hannon, and the guest list reads like a power pop dream: Hannon appears on six tracks, Ben Folds plays piano on Dear Belinda, and XTC's Andy Partridge and Dave Gregory contribute a co-write and a gorgeous string arrangement respectively. Even Jeff Lynne sent a fan letter mid-recording. The title comes from the Olympus dictaphone demos that ended up forming the bones of the finished record, and there's a warmth and cohesion here that carries twelve slices of melodic, Beatles and ELO-indebted songcraft. Nominated for the Choice Music Prize and hailed by The Irish Times as the best Irish album of its year.