Dungaree Day marks The Coral guitarist’s first foray into solo song-writing, after being a major pinion in legendary Liverpool bands such as The Zutons and The Stands. The previous two years have been a creative journey for the songwriter; besides masses of heavy touring, Molloy has gone through the losses of both his mother and father. Molloy’s upcoming album is therefore somewhat of a summation of these significant experiences, and a brew of his literary inspirations from that period, which included HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe.
Dungaree Days is a track radiating with exuberance, but lightly underscored by similarly beautiful melancholy. Molloy’s earwormy, almost skiffle-y acoustic guitar is of course a highlight, but the blissful “ooo” and “ba ba ba” harmonies (redolent of Harry Nillson or The Zombies) are equally memorable. Besides this, the peppy percussion and general dynamism of the rhythm section maintain the track’s vivacity. This, as well as the marvellously catchy central hook of “I’ve got nothing to say, it’s a Dungaree Day”, ensures the song doesn’t teeter into cringe territory, where it may have from a songwriter not of Molloy’s pedigree. Instead, Dungaree Day is a bright and refreshingly repeatable indie treasure.
Of the track’s inspiration, Molly says that “My girlfriend wears dungarees a lot and it was an off-the-cuff thing, she opened her drawer and just said ‘it’s a dungaree day today’ and it just rushed to me as a song. It opens with the alarm clock as you’re waking up to a new day from a nightmare, triggered by the previous track on the album.”
Paul Molloy’s debut album, Fifth Dandelion, is out 21st August. Molloy describes the album as “‘where midnight movies come alive, French horns silhouette the ghouls of forgotten empires, broken bayou river boats murmur Marie Laveau’s name in the still of night“, with a prevailing tone of folk lyricism à la Ray Davies or Ronnie Lane.
Watch the video for Dungaree Days below.
