Bunkhouse: Bunkhouse review – Laura Kelly shines on group’s debut album

Meanwhile, over in Glasgow, Irish musicians are having their moment in the cold sun, and if Galway’s Laura Kelly has anything to do with it that moment will be stretched out for as long as possible. Bass player and vocalist in (as they term themselves) the “primitive pop band” Bunkhouse, Kelly’s day job as lecturer in the history of health and medicine at the University of Strathclyde provides some level of narrative weight within Bunkhouse’s debut album.

However, keep still thy serious-minded beating heart: Bunkhouse’s music has more in common with The Pastels, Joy Division, Stereolab and The Fall than anything else (Kelly also points to another interesting influence in The Yummy Fur, a 1990s Glaswegian band that featured three future members of Franz Ferdinand). Whatever the inspirations, a lyric from Ballad of the Band outlines their loose mission statement: “it’s not a popularity contest, we make music for ourselves, f**k the rest.”

Along with Chris Elkin and Arion Xenos, Kelly shares the spoils of a striking blend of melodic hooks, garage rock riffs and winningly retro pop-laden beats. After a rude rug-pulling halt last year (a debut gig and then one inhibiting lockdown after another), here’s to 2021 for much more of this, please.