Fatima Mansions
This pop group which defies categorization was formed in August 1989 by Cork singer Cathal Coughlan, fresh from his stint with the more restrained Microdisney. The inspiration for the monicker came from a decrepit Dublin housing estate of the same name. AGAINST NATURE was released in September 1989 to almost universal critical acclaim and a large degree of astonishment; ‘staggering in its weight of ideas . . . never loses its capacity to suddenly stun you’ stated the New Musical Express. Its abrasive lyrics might have been anticipated with Coughlan's pedigree, but the directness of the musical attack certainly was not. Andreas O'Gruama's guitar, as ever, contributed richly to the final results. It was followed by Blues For Ceausescu, a fire and brimstone political tirade which held prophetic warnings of East European tragedy. Its operatic tilt enabled it to be at once hysterical, comic and sinister. Coughlan was now established in the press as a delicious anti-hero and mischief maker. BUGS FUCKING FUNNY was dropped as the title of the second album, in favour of the comparatively non-descript VIVA DEAD PONIES. This time Coughlan's lyrics were totally submerged in vitriol and hysterical observations on the absurdities of living in the UK. The title-track, for instance, considered the case of Jesus being reincarnated as a Jewish shopkeeper. A particular vehemence, as ever, was reserved for British imperialism. It prompted the GUARDIAN newspaper to number Coughlan as ‘the most under-rated lyricist in pop today’. Further paranoia, bile and doses of his rich Irish voice were poured in to the mini-album BERTIE'S BROCHURES in 1991. Notable amongst its eight tracks is the massacre of R.E.M.'s Shiny Happy People. The title track refers to an Irish artist wrongly imprisoned for terrorism, coinciding with highly topical, real-life events. Like Morrissey before him, Coughlan looks set to become the sort of left field maverick genius who makes the broad church of pop music infinitely more entertaining.