James Friley is the man behind Idiot Glee, a low-fi electro venture, and the emphasis of Paddywhack is definitely on low-fi. The album gets so laid-back at points that it’s hard to know whether a song has started before it has already finished. The concentration of each track is more on the creation of a sound or atmosphere rather than making a fully formed song. But there is a lot to be said for Friley’s sounds and atmospheres.
The opening track, "IT", is more of an introduction before things get going (‘get going’ is used in a loose sense here) on the Motown-esque "Let’s Get Down Together". But like so many of the tracks on the album, it’s easy to lose interest before the song has ended.
There are a lot of interesting ideas shown by Friley, such as "Don’t Go Out Tonight"s use of contrasting use of upbeat xylophone and deep bass mix sweet and sinister. And "Don’t Drink the Water" sounds like a slowed down 1950s prom-night tune. "Happy Day" brings to mind the sounds of a grotesque funfair and is the highlight of the album, but it is still probably twice as long as it needs to be.
The album has a pleasant sound but with no real stand out moments and as such it serves better as background music. Paddywhack has the feel of an artist’s sketchbook rather than a finished piece, but it is the sketchbook of a very promising artist.
MP3 Stream: "Don’t Go Out Tonight"
