A Kick ass band from Belfast.
They are:
- Brian Acton (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars)
- Dan Donnelly (vocals, mandolin, guitar, percussion, and plumbing)
- Bruce Cabbyje (double bass)
- Phil Duffy (drums)
A quick listen through their records will also reveal kazoo, trumpet, and of course the string section.
(the plumbing is played digeri-doo style).
Their musical style is, as with all good bands, tricky to define. Their earlier work is
influenced by ragtime, and later work by jazz, reggae and trip hop. Try a
few tracks out at http://www.watercress.net
They tour almost continuously, mainly in the USA and Ireland, whilest making occasional
forays accross to Britain. They run their own record label, "Creeping Herb". Accordng
to a shop owner in Ballymena, the arrival of a new Watercress record is heralded by one of
the band members arriving with a suitcase full of CDs. This implies a certain
amateurism, but such does not extend to their recordings or live performances which are
polished, but fun.
Discography
-With comments where I have the record.
1995
- Summertime - "Summertime with me", "Alligators", "Photograph", "Boneyman"
1996
Candlemaker - "Candlemaker", "Your Ring", "Sad", "Me and my Mouth"
This was their first success. Candlemaker is a cheerful song about a woman who drunk so much gin, she didn't notice
that her house was burning down around her. Your Ring is a tale of lost love. Sad is another tragic tale topped and
tailed by 8 bars of people shouting "sad!". Me And My Mouth describes how the protagonist can't trust himself to form
proper sentences, is interspersed with chanted gibberish and ends with an hilarious kazoo solo.
Tripped Up - "Tripped Up", "Alarm Bells", "Invisible", "Have a Nice Day", "Tripped Up(extended)"
1997
Spacegirl - "Spacegirl", "I'm so clumsy", "This Ball's Never Gonna Get", "candlemaker (demo).
Spacegirl is about the protagonist's friend having a relationship with a space alien. It's funny. "This Ball's
Never Gonna Get" is truly wierd. It features, rap, ragtime, sound effects, and yet is fully coherent.
1998
Stars Shine On - "Stars Shine On", "Imaginary Love", "Don't Be A Dope", "Doobie A Dope", "Eat Sweets, Loose
Teeth".
Stars Shine On is a commentry about the futility of worry, to a tune with a similar
structure to twinkle, twinkle little star. Imaginary Love is a fun ditty about the
protagonist getting through his day with the help of a ficticious girlfriend. Don't Be A
Dope is a critique of the National Lottery. Eat Sweets, Lose Teeth (live fast, die
young) is a sweet-toothed blues number.
Holiday - "Holiday", "She's Leafy"
Holiday is about losing yourself abroad. She's Leafy is a 1950's style rock 'n' roll
arrangement about a woman who is like a tree.
Bummer - "Spacegirl", "Candlemaker", "Tripped Up", "Holiday", "Gravity", "Stars Shine
On", "I Wish (someone would shoot me)", "Francie Brady d.a.f (r.i.p.)", "Plastercast",
"Cruelty", "Someone's Watching You", "Other Things", "Oh Yeah", "Skyrocket", "Fire In The
Cup", "Everybody Think's I'm David Sole"
The best songs on this, their first album are Cruelty, Gravity and Sky Rocket. Cruelty
is a short piece consisting of a list of cruel activites. Gravity is in alternating 5/4
and 3/4 time, and borrows from the jazz classic Take Five. Sky Rocket starts with a
simple traditional Greek arrangement, and builds to a frenzied Gypsy violin solo.