<< Back To Press Hot Press: Heartworm, October 1995 Whipping Boy understand the other side. That’s a precious knowledge. It’s the knowledge needed for great rock ‘n’ roll. And on the night that I heard of the death of The Velvet Underground’s Sterling Morrison, it’s important to know what is rock ‘n’ roll. If there are echoes of the Velvets music here, they are well hidden. Much more in evidence is the taste of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. But these influences are like pepper on the stew; the stew is a Whipping Boy stew. The spirit of the Velvets is here though. The bald honesty that Lou Reed disgusted the critics and the radio stations with back in the Sixties is here. Fergie McKee has learnt to confront his demons in the public square, and we all should be the better for it. When on ‘We Don’t Need Nobody Else,’ he sings "I hit you for the first time today," it’s clear that the line hurts to be sung. And it makes you think about it all, think about it long and hard. So, Fergie is a bit of a bollocks. A sometimes drunken, drug-addled, self-obsessed, violent creature. What’s new about us? Or should we pretend that here is a rare specimen, someone whose is absolutely not us? O’Connell Street may be wide but Dublin (and Ireland) is known for narrow minds. The fact that Whipping Boy have produced an album as searching and truthful as Heartworm while still living in such a claustrophic country is testament to a rather unique character and talent. (Or perhaps a testament that Ireland herself is opening up.) The fact that Whipping Boy have produced an album as infinitely hummable and hookedly loveable means that melody runs through their veins. Yes, Heartworm sings with a bubbly and a bounce and that strange here-and-there twist. That turning into eh gyre as the centre cannot hold. That necessary chaos. ‘Twinkle,’ the recent single is magnificent, simply and utterly so. ‘When We Were Yong’ has Shane MacGowan under its fingernails as it romps and stomps and does a tenth pint of Guinness dance. ‘Tripped’ is subdued, steals in, then rasps as the guitar chokes. "I lost my faith in all things good," Fergie sings. ‘The Honeymoon is Over’ is a lament for a love that always slips away, a powerful dark meandering river of loss. ‘We Don’t Need Nobody Else’ feels like a chorus chanted by two doomed lovers as they stand on the edge of a cliff. The fact that this chorus is so engaging merely adds to the sense of delirium. "Blinded’ begins like it has just been set free. It races, surges, bounces, for a time dives into a dark cave, only to return with adrenaline dripping from its lips. ‘Personality’ is pure and low-key and melancholy, as it skips along on sweet guitars and strings. ‘Users’ opens with the most perfect anticipation; ringing bell, an echoed riff. Then the words pierce through: "Yeah, I abuse so many people/For no reason or no gain/Sometimes its just for fun/Or a way to keep me sane/There’s someone lost inside of me/Drowned in whiskey games/You ask too many questions for me to feel okay/What if you lost all those fears of me?" The sheer honesty and beauty of these lines is startling. And the music, at times eerie, at times abrasive, is a wonderful compliment. A song that grabs you and leaves its mark. ‘Fiction’ is much more upfront in its approach, as it drives forward on a certain beat and Fergie lets his voice soar. ‘Morning Rise’ ends the album on an optimistic title, though the lyrics betray the central fatalism and melancholy of Heartworm. The orchestral arrangement, backed by acoustic guitars and drum brush strokes gives it an air of something from some other time. Ferghal McKee, Myles McDonnell, Colm Hasset and Paul Page have stood the test of time. Whipping Boy as a group have lived long enough with the blues, with bitter disappointment and neglect. But that’s what happened to all the great Blues singers, and now Whipping Boy can sing their own white trash Kildare-meets-Dublin blues with a command, integrity, passion and scintillating energy that is truly, truly their own. Heartworm is a unique album. It is a startlingly honest exploration of the psyche of the outsider. But its very melodies are joy. And its chords and beats are rocking like no other. It is like poitin and poitin mixed. Explosive! Heartworm is one of the best albums I have ever heard. Gerry McGovern.