Blue In Heaven - All The Gods' Men

Blue In Heaven were perhaps one of the more interesting Irish groups of the early to mid-1980s. Founded in 1982 in Churchtown, Dublin, they lasted just seven years and released only two albums, an EP and a number of singles. The debut album from Blue In Heaven comes with a dark indie-pop atmosphere that provokes thoughts of Joy Division, The Horrors and other titans of new wave and post punk leanings. All The Gods Men, was a tinny artefact from the dying embers of post punk with much to recommend it, not least the proto-goth guitars, Martin Hannett’s just so production and singer Shane O’Neill’s voice, which didn’t so much sing the songs as wander hither and yon above the instrumentation. But what instrumentation! Remarkably over-emphatic bass lines two steps removed from Joy Division or ‘Movement’ era New Order underpin the tracks; but heavier, much much heavier (I’d dearly love to know how they achieved that), sheets of guitar sound fade in and out, martial drum beats predominate. And then there were the lyrics themselves which when not moodily enigmatic appeared to be mostly concerned with sex. One has to wonder how much of this was Hannett’s doing and how much theirs; and while similar thoughts are raised by many groups he produced the overall effect here was fascinating. It was no masterpiece; let’s be clear, but it was different and that was no small thing in the context of Irish music of the period. Drowned in reverb and almost indecipherable at times, All The Gods Men is a challenge, but a rewarding one.

Ripped from the original vinyl (coz there’s no digital release yet) to MP3 @ 320kbps

Blue In Heaven; All The Gods Men

A1.  Sometimes

A2.  The Big Beat

A3.  It’s Saturday

A4.  Old Ned

A5.  All You Fear

B1.  Julie Cries

B2.  Like A Child

B3.  In Your Eyes

B4.  Slowly