HAL

Dave Allen - guitar, vocals
Paul Allen - bass, vocals
Stephen O'Brien - keyboards
Steve Hogan - drums

It might be due to a hitherto undiscovered tunnel from the Irish capital to the West Coast of the USA, or perhaps the city's council has taken to spiking the water supplies with chemically condensed sunshine in the hope of boosting the nation's musically-generated income. Who knows - it just seems like an amazing co-incidence that in Hal we have another band from Dublin with a penchant for drawing from the three killer B's of Californian pop-rock (Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds and, who else, Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys).

Hal's self-titled debut album, however, excels in emulating the kind of sunkissed soft-rock marvels the output of their fellow Dublin dwellers The Thrills has so far only hinted at.
From the insanely catchy, perky pop of 'Play The Hits' to the harmony-coated epic MOR balladry of 'Keep Love as Your Golden Rule' and the Band-esque stomp of 'I Sat Down', all paraphernalia required for entry to the melodically endowed pop-rock masterclass is well and truly present in Hal's superbly infectious songwriting.

Although it sounds spontaneous, this perfectly realised album is a product of a long gestation period that started when Dave Allen and keyboardist Stephen O'Brien, both veterans of various line-ups and musical styles united by appreciation of Van Morrison, Harry Nilsson and The Band, launched their songwriting partnership in 1999. Dave's younger brother Paul (bass and vocals) and Levon Helm-lookalike Steve Hogan (drums, appropriately enough) were recruited not long after, and the quartet's exhilarating hometown gigs and burgeoning songbook resulted in a furious bidding war won by Rough Trade in late 2003.

Not unlike their recent touring partners The Magic Numbers; Hal manage to hark back to a more innocent era by conjuring something genuinely beautiful and affecting from the kind of sweet ingredients that in the wrong hands might result in something mundane, overly cute or downright annoying.
The result is an impressive album that avoids breaking new ground but re-visits the old stuff with such gusto and sure-footed joy it makes innovation a somewhat over-rated quality.
While their studio work is a treasure chest of swooning melodies of such richness it might cause rash and other allergic reactions in the sunglasses-at-dark brigade. Hal, with Dave Allen's stinging guitar work to the fore, are an altogether harder-hitting prospect live.

HAL - 'HAL' (Rough Trade) 2005