The High Llamas then…
When, Microdisney, the 1980s second-most undeservedly unsuccessful band folded in 1988 (I’m rating The Go-Betweens as #1 on that particular list) a beautiful song-writing partnership came to an end. They may not quite be up there with Rogers & Hammerstein, Lennon & McCarthy, Goffin & King et al. but the unlikely combination of Sean O’Hagan’s Beach Boys-esque pop sensibilities with Cathal Coughlan’s angry, gritty, nihilism produced something quite magical.
Over the course of four albums released between 1984 and 1988 and after moving to London in 1983, the duo from Cork blossomed into one of the most exciting and literate bands on the 80s Indie scene. Championed by John Peel (who described one of their early releases, Helicopter of the Holy Ghost as the greatest B-side he had ever heard) Microdisney were always full of promise.
In addition to the four albums, Microdisney recorded 6 Peel Sessions, released a number of EPs and singles and put out a compliation of early singles and rarities, originally released under the title, We Hate You South African Bastards, but later released under the slightly less attention-grabbing title, Love Your Enemies.
During their five years in London the duo morphed into a ‘proper’ band with the addition of Jon Fell (bass) and Tom Fenner (drums). They also moved from indie obscurity to a deal with Rough Trade Records, and then to the verge of mainstream pop success via a deal with Virgin Records. The breakthrough never came but the almost inevitable breakup did…
Sean and Cathal went their own ways; Cathal Coughlan formed the in-your-face Fatima Mansions while Sean O’Hagan was able to follow his Brian Wilson inspired pop dreams through the medium of The High Llamas.
And 32 years after the release of the first High Llamas album, Sean O’Hagan has just released the 11th. It’s generating a lot of indie media interest and BBC Radio 6 airplay but I can’t see it troubling the charts. O’Hagan ploughs his own furrow and makes music exactly how he wants to. He’s not afraid to experiment (he was, for a short while in the early 1990s, a member of avant garde popsters, Stereolab, and it’s not hard to see how he fitted in there) and the new album, Hey Panda, sees him using an auto-tune effect on some of his vocals – not something you’d expect to hear from a white, male, middle class, 65-year old singer with a solid indie pedigree!
I’ve chosen seven High Llamas tracks covering the whole of the band’s 32-years’ output – I say ‘band’ but it’s effectively Sean O’Hagan’s solo project and it always has been. Two of the tracks feature notable vocal contributions from Laetitia Sadier and the late Mary Hansen of Stereolab fame (Cookie Bay) and from Rae Morris (Sisters Friends).
Enjoy…
The 'Spill 