So Cow – The Long Con – Styrofoam Drone

Irish band SO COW, now on Goner Records, have crafted a cloudy power pop gem with The Long Con, an album that will hum in your head and captivate you with its infectious riffs.

When a song gets stuck in your head it’s called an “earworm,” and the thirteen songs on So Cow’s latest (even the lone instrumental number), will burrow so deeply into your subconscious they’ll ring loud and true long after your lids have been drawn for your nightly journey to slumber town. These are not annoying earworms like the ones you wish would leave you at peace, say an annoying jingle for some fat-laden fast food franchise and the like. These are sonic harmonies you’ll want roaming around in your soul until your old and grey.

Ringmaster Brian Kelly and his crew of pop craftsmen sing songs that capture the malaise of daily life with a verve and authenticity that’s one part sonic crunch and two-parts philosophical lyricism. There’s an incredible spectrum of flat-out guitar jamming here, that at times harkens back to 70’s thunderous stadium rock riffage that would make Lemmy grin, to tight, harmonic licks that would get Les Paul’s nod of approval.

Through these poetic, fuzz-pedal verses we experience the universal truths of life. Its escapes – booze (“Barry Richardson”), drugs (“Sugar Factory,” “Science Fiction”), work (“Operating at a Loss”) and its challenges – getting older (“Guess Who’s Dead,” “Get Down Off That Thing”) lost love (Turning Into You) and self-doubt (“To Be Confirmed,” “Vigilanti Cura”).

It should be the staple of every album rotation, and when you find yourself starting to hum “Get Down Off That Thing” on a conference call at work while the person on the other end drones on about some type of company banality, well, you were warned.

My Rating: SS
Genre/ Tags: Pop, Punk, Garage Rock
The Long Con LP: Tracklist:
1.) Get Down Off That Thing
2.) Science Fiction
3.) Sugar Factory
4.) Operating at a Loss
5.) I Want Out
6.) Vigilanti Cura
7.) Say Hello
8.) Turning Into You
9.) To Be Confirmed
10.) Guess Who’s Dead
11.) The Other One
12.) Second Last Line of the National Anthem
13.) Barry Richardson