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WHIPPING BOY Submarine Whipping Boy Recordings ****

We remember the dark-hearted Dublin quartet for their fine 1995 album, Heartworm, but here's their long-forgotten 1992 debut, released in the same year as PJ Harvey's Dry and Rage Against the Machine's first one, and packing a similarly intense sonic and lyrical punch. Whipping Boy have recently reformed in the hope of getting another crack of the whip, and they've remastered Submarine, bringing it our from beneath the shadow of their major label masterpiece. If U2 were kings of the hill, Whipping Boy were the dungeon dwellers, trawling around the seedier side of the psyche and coming up with such nugget-hard tunes as Safari, Favourite Sister, Astronaut Blues, Buffalo and Valentine 69. Frontman Fearghal McKee's menacing monotone keeps such tunes Beatle, Sushi, Bettyclean and Snow firmly in the dirt, while guitarist Paul Page, bassist Myles McDonnell and drummer Colm Hassett rip through the tunes like brain surgeons wielding chainsaws. Nice to see Submarine resurface after all this time. www.whippingboy.net

Kevin Courtney