The Basement, Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs

You’d think with an album title like Illicit Hugs and Playground Hugs, you’d get rock songs about bar fights or running from the cops. Instead, The Basement gives us alt-country fare with vague songs about our women and our melancholy, boring lives.

They describe them well though, vocalist John Mullin knows how to write lyrics like he should. I even heard the word prognosticate on “Just a Dream”. “When Tomorrow Comes” tells us, “To be born in a bar / Like a fake movie star / With your soul which was spastic and weak / And you’re wishing people luck / But you just don’t give a fuck / And that’s a lot to have dragging at your feet.” As vague as that sounds, I agree. The rest of the album is written obscurely enough to give Illicit Hugs a nice, timeless feel to it.

Mullin slurs his vocals like a young Bob Dylan, but when you actually figure out what he’s saying, it sounds intriguing enough to listen to the next song, and maybe even the entire album. It’s paced and produced well, put together by Mike Crossey, producer of Arctic Monkeys. Everyone seems to like them enough, right? I wouldn’t be surprised to hear them in a Vince Vaughn movie or on Scrubs. Is that show even still running? Anyway, each song flows well into the next and the album slows down just when it needs to slow down. Each time a chorus starts, it keeps Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs from sounding monotonous.

I have relatively close ties to Ireland, where the band hails from. I burn easily and I’m half Irish and my brother runs an IRA website, which is what probably makes the album so listenable to me. I’ve always been down for good Irish music, but it’s usually cookie-cutter, singer/songwriter garbage or it’s way too authentic and it sounds like it was recorded by a shepherd taking a break from his flock. It’s not the case with these guys, though.

Don’t compare them to U2 or Snow Patrol, those guys kind of suck. The Basement shows off a lot of staying power here. It’s good driving music, it’s good post-coital music, it’s good drinking music. It makes me want to pub-crawl and get into fights, so maybe the title is indeed fitting. Also, banjoes are never a bad thing, in my Irish opinion.