Cargo Records

The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock

Irish psychedelic folksters The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock release their debut album on Transduction Records.

The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock is music from Dublin, Ireland. Named after a poem about a haunted canal lock, the Spook plucks banjos and twangs guitars, he yelps and he drones and sings songs about doomed revolutionaries, brave partisans, corrupt politicians and constant struggle. Live the Spook plays solo with guitar, banjo and effects or swells to full band with bass, guitars, drums. The eponymous debut album see songs in the Irish folk tradition expanded into the realms of psych, prog and post rock, channeling amongst other things, the diverse yet kindred spirits of Lift to Experience, 16 Horsepower and The Chieftains. The Spook began in 2006 by Allen Blighe following the demise of the Holy Ghost Fathers, a Dublin-based outfit who released two albums on their own Microclique imprint. Seeking an outlet to combine a passion for traditional Irish forms along with modern-day rootsier influences, Blighe has crafted a space-tinged Celtic folk rock sound that is hauntingly beautiful. Aided by The Spook band and the able production of multiinstrumentalist Enda Bates, the debut album shifts gears effortlessly, careening from folk ballads to drone atmospherics to full-on psychedelic rock. The band is completed by ex-Steerage members Donnchadh Hoey (guitar) and Brian O’Higgins (drums). The album’s strong allegorical overtones bring to the surface themes of bitterness, disillusionment, national identity and loss of faith – set against a richly imaginative historical background on songs like “The Hare” and “Pimlico”. Elsewhere, the centre piece tune “The Partisan” finds its musical inspiration from Macedonian folk while remembering partisans of Italian folklore; and on the album’s epic closing moment “The Ragged Rock”, a twisted, jagged version of Sean Nós evolves into a krautrock freak out, eventually descending into a feedback-soaked howl. A suitable ending for a dramatic journey.

"the best tunes are wrapped in the kind of guitar blizzard mostly
associated with Sixteen Horsepower or early Dirty Three" - UNCUT

"haunted, rabble-rousing folk" - EVENING HERALD