Aaagh!

The Good Old Days

2006 was a hell of a year in Ireland. We had fat wallets, cracking weather and were living in blissful ignorance that the Celtic Tiger was dying. The airwaves were full of the likes of Cascada, Sandi Thom and Shayne Ward… While we thankfully left these in the past, one album was unfairly left behind. I’m talking, of course, about Republic of Loose‘s second album, Aaagh!.

Republic of Loose are usually lumped in with other cult classics in Irish rock: The Stunning, Sultans of Ping and The Frames, but I think this is an unfair comparison. Republic of Loose are different – they were simply in the wrong era.

A Loose History

The band formed in 2001 with frontman Mik Pyro, Dave Pyro, Brez Breslin, Benjamin Loose, Coz Nolan as well as a large number of “associates”. Soon enough, Republic of Loose gained a reputation for their energy during live performances. After winning “some fucking battle of the bands”, their debut album This Is the Tomb of the Juice gave a taste of their raw energy and peculiarity. Unfortunately, the album fell flat of any real success, but at least it gave us an insight into their genre-bending style. The band mixed funk, rock and hip-hop, with cheeky lyrics and a sense of not taking themselves too seriously. However messy and unpolished the album was, it had some timeless hits, like Girl I’m Gonna Fuck You Up and Tell More Lies.

A number of festivals later (R.I.P Oxegen), the band returned to the studio. With €70,000 in hand and a fire under them, they managed to do things better this time around. Indeed, they earned a number of hits in the Irish Charts like Comeback Girl or You Know It, and were nominated for the Choice Music Prize. Two more albums and a global financial crisis later, Republic of Loose faded into obscurity before disbanding. Unfortunately, they didn’t leave much of a legacy behind to those in my generation. They were just another band of the time when our parents had money and tracker mortgages were a thing. However, I want to do my bit to change that. They deserve more credit.

Loose Listening

I remember listening to Comeback Girl and The Steady Song when they were in the charts as a kid. They were the kind of songs you’d remember if you heard them on Reeling in the Years. That was until 2018, where I was studying in the college library and my phone buzzed. My friend and I always recommended albums to each other and he told me to listen to Aaagh!. His recommendation was based on the recording production of the album and I needed little persuasion to hit play. Safe to say, I instantly fell in love.

The album is fiercely energetic from start to finish. A blend of rock, funk and soul wrapped in a raw but compelling sound, with a real “fuck you” carelessness in the lyrics. It’s funny, it’s entertaining and it doesn’t take itself seriously in any respect. I found myself smiling at lyrics like “I got a small dick, that’s the way God played me” on I’m Greedy, while being blown away by the instrumentals on songs like The Translation. Upon finishing the album, my first thought was “Wow, why is this not a classic?”. Because to me, it’s up there with The Joshua Tree in terms of great Irish albums.

Break!

Second to “Comeback Girl” for the biggest hit on the album, “Break!” is an energetic enigma. A vigorously strummed Flamenco guitar plays the main riff, accompanied by Reggaeton-style drums to the perfect earworm. Isabel Reyes Feeney gives us the recurring hook, and Mik Pyro ad-libs alongside her, making the whole thing feel improvised and totally unserious. Lyrically it’s a perfect example of how filthy and absurd this album is, but it works so, so well. The guitar break adds more phenomenal energy. It comes right after the song lulls a bit and seems designed to get anyone losing interest back onto the dancefloor. In a way it sounds like it belongs in Pulp Fiction, but that being said, the things the guitar does in this song really make it.

I have a hard time even convincing myself this song is from the mid-Noughties. It’s so of its era. It is reminiscent of The Black Eyed Peas in the instrumentals and the rapping is very 2005. Reminds me of Chamillionaire almost. But that’s the point! They took their influence from North America. In Mik Pyro’s own words: “I’m bombarded every motherfucking day with American shit, you sayin’ I can’t take a piece of that pie and use it in my own shit?”. So it’s no doubt that “Break!” is such an easily appreciated song.

Mary Caine

Right! Let’s go a little more obscure: “Mary Caine” is unfairly unknown. She sounds like your mother’s friend, or your ol’ fella saying “American”. But this track is one of the many bangers hidden in the middle of the album. It’s nestled between the almost sweet “All Mine” and “Shame” but I had to single it out for the rawness. Honestly, pop in your headphones and hit play with the volume on full and the drums will burst your eardrums. The kicks are so prominent and the snare is punchy. I love it! Even the egg shakers are a nice touch. But don’t let the drums fool you: the song is a bop. It’s groovy, it’s funky… It’s fun!

I still can’t figure out if the song is actually about a girl called Mary Caine or if there’s some metaphor I’m missing. Regardless, you won’t be analysing lyrics when you’re infectiously dancing to it. From a vocal standpoint, you hear Mik Pyro hitting some falsettos, which are executed quite well to his defence, but they sound intentionally satirical. To me, this song really showcases the funk qualities Republic of Loose possess.

You Know It

Probably one of my favourites on the album, “You Know It” captures that live sound so well. Honestly half of this album sounds like a well polished live performance. The funk elements are so big here in the drums and guitar. The guitar tone is beautiful and the drums are deep in the pocket, it’s incredibly groovy. The type of song you sway to half drunk in a smoking area, trying not to think too hard about how miserable your life can be. Or maybe that’s just me.

Again, the lyrics are funny. The execution sounds improvised and off the bat. It’s sloppy at times but in a really likeable way. There’s a whole self-awareness to it, especially at the end of the first verse. “Stop the beat I’m not ready, hold on ’til I get my legs a little more steady”. There’s a tongue-in-cheek attitude across all these softer songs on the album and you can’t help but smile when you hear it.

A Loose Legacy

To me, Aaagh! was unjustly ahead of its time. I feel like this album would have gone more global than it did, had it been released today. Still, going platinum in Ireland is no ordinary feat. It just feels like this album has not received the credit, to this day, that it truly deserves. There are little nods to Republic of Loose here and there, most notably Rejjie Snow interpolating “The Steady Song“ in 2018 with Charlie Brown.

There’s a real sadness to realising you were born in the wrong generation. Although I have been lucky enough to experience so many great artists live, there are countless more I will never get to see. This argument is usually reserved for bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Doors, but it doesn’t feel wrong to include Republic of Loose in that list. I know this album is nearly 20(!) years old, the band are well and truly gone. I had always hoped for some kind of a reunion, but the release of a Greatest Hits album, titled Mutant Soul, feels like the final nail in the coffin. But who knows, eh?