Eugene McGuinness – Eugene McGuinness

After the release of mini-album The Early Learnings of Eugene McGuinness, the man himself returns with a full length self-titled debut album. Is this perhaps then, the later learnings of Eugene McGuinness? A more polished, consistent effort than his debut, which by all accounts ran out of steam half way through? Well it seems, whenever his learnings took place, earlier or later, Eugene McGuinness has learnt well and learnt good, and as a charmer of an album to show for it.The album clatters into life with ‘Rings Around Rosa's rock-n-roll inspired ditty that perhaps has slightly too much going on, but is an enthusiastic opener. The album continues in the same vain - fast-paced and high-spirited, a bit like a hyperactive child forgetting to breathe when they're talking, or in Eugene's case singing. Barley into his 20s, his youthful exuberance is understandable, and the tracks certainly command attention with their tapping percussion andWhen Eugene does stop for breath we see a variety of influences seeping in. ‘Wendy Wonders' has a definite Mersey-beat feel (Eugene hails from Liverpool), but at the same time name checks Shaftsbury Avenue (currently residing in London). The strings bring an added complexity and hint at a strong English folk influence as well.‘Moscow State Circus' is a bit of a rambler, with confused lyrics and sounds unsure of which way to go, so tries all the paths. Beginning with just Eugene's voice it develops into a chorus repeating "we're tumbling down a rabbit hole" and indeed as the song spirals around this line it does feel a bit like that. A bit more decisiveness would've stopped this song running away with itself.The wistful strings and doo-wop backing vocals and Eugene's falsetto makes ‘Those Old Black and White Movies' sound a lot like a movie soundtrack, but does seem like the sore thumb of the album, almost like an interlude.This is a good, solid album with the occasional wobble. Whilst Eugene has developed a clear sound - a percussive retro shuffle that sometimes lurches and sometimes skips -, lyrically it fails to connect and there are some tracks where Eugene seems to stray into unfamiliar territory that simply doesn't make sense. Whilst this is certainly a step up from his Early Learnings, I'm holding out for his ‘definitive' or ‘ultimate' learnings. 66%Eugene McGuinness on MySpace