Cuckoo Savante
Cuckoo Savante have been hailed as “ones to watch’ in the Sunday Times Hot list, described as “Tom Waits making out with Nick Cave on Nina Simones piano” by GCN, and seen their debut album, “Lennonstown Lies” share the itunes blues chart top ten with the likes of Imelda May and Seasick Steve for ten weeks straight.Not bad for a band of misfits from the west of Ireland.
Building their songs around the vocal stylings of Jaime Nanci and the classical fingering of keys by Organ Morgan Cooke, Cuckoo Savante have played sold out shows in Whelans, Dublin, The Roisin Dubh, Galway and The Blackbox, Belfast, even making an appearance alongside their musical mama Mary Coughlan at the Body and Soul arena at the Electric Picnic, and provided warm up for acts including Jerry Fish and the Mudbug club, The Fun Lovin' criminals, And Imelda May to name but a few.
Their self penned track, “The House of Ill Repute”, described by the Gaurdian Newspaper, as “The best song Brecht and Weil never wrote”, was chosen as the title track for the latest album by Ms. Coughlan, While there song "I C U Leopard" was used in a chapter of the award winning docudrama "Identities".
Cuckoo Savante have toured extensively around Ireland and the U.K, and taken their brand of “Loungepunk” stateside for shows in both New york and Chicago, where they have an ever growing legion of fans.
“Lennonstown Lies”, the 13 track album is a sexy seduction of sounds from bygone eras.
With unclassifiable, yet inimmitable style, the album blazes seamlessly from the high energy polka influenced opening track “Princess-Royal Kisser of Frogs” through the scorching orchestral ode to adultery “Red Apple” (featuring Mary Coughlan on vocals) through 1950’s rock’n’roll on songs like “I C U Leopard” and “Ghostsong”. With confessional lyrics and universal themes, this stunning album closes with title track “Lennonstown Lies”- a beautiful, melancholy yet uplifting meditation on the loss of childhood innocence.
Album review-
“Come closer - I’ve a secret to share. Galway might finally have found a band to match it’s new shiny music scene. It’s been a long long time coming but blues/punk five-piece Cuckoo Savante might just (whisper it) be the first Galway band in an age to make a meaningful breakthrough.
Having spent much of 2008 touring and playing with Mary Coughlan, they have taken centre stage so far in ‘09 with the launch of their debut album Lennonstown Lies. A band with many monikers, they have been described as Hurdy-Gurdy and grotesque cabaret but I think the description that best fits is Lounge-punk.
Title track Lennonstown Lies will knock simply your socks off - beautifully bluesy and dark but with none of the stifled delivery that you would might normally associate with the genre. It’s blues you can dance to, hell, you could almost mosh to it.The album is an exercise in fusion done right, taking the best elements of jazz, blues and cabaret and mixing them with fundamentals of a punk rock band. I like, I like very much.”Andrew Hamilton -Clarepeopleinteractive
"Wow! Anthony and the Johnsons meets Nino Rota and Baby jane We're in love! XXX" - The Puppini Sisters.
"Like some long lost Doors tape"- Keith 'Suave' O'Keefe, Suavepromotions.com, London.
“…and i have to say they were brilliant. the guy singing reminded me of jack l, young, pretty and funky with a big strong, but also sweet voice, as well as a great delivery. you could say that they have a tendency towards jazz and black music, but with a younger and more modern vibe….” someone on the interweb..