The first thing you notice about Liam Mc Dermott’s debut album The Maybe Pile is the actual CD itself. Adorned with the faces of musical legends such as Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkle, Bob Marley and The Beatles it serves as a welcome introduction for the musical journey we are about to partake in. McDermott has placed some very large shoes in front of his feet and he comfortably slips into them, presenting me with the most enjoyable Irish LP I have come across in a long time.

While most Irish artists piss in the same pot resulting in a sound that is fine tuned to send a shiver down the spine of your average Whelans head, McDermott’s album harks back to a simpler era, when sex was in the subtext and artists sang because they simply couldn’t not. While The Thrills' Big Sur reeks of soulless marketing by a group of guys whose lives have been changed by nothing more than a J1 visa, McDermott’s voice bears the markings of a boy who has loved, lusted after and lost the girl. This is love through a man's eyes, drenched in frustration and bewilderment at the female of the species.

Everything about this album is soaked in Beach Boys nostalgia from his simple, sweet yet sorrowful lyrics to the heart lifting harmonies that raise your spirits throughout. Totally unoriginal yet wholly unique “The Maybe Pile” is music from another era that is wonderfully out of place in this day and age. Overflowing with wanton women, hapless heroes and secret trysts, McDermott has captured first love in a bouncing piano beat that takes the listener back to their first true love. In a perfect world all pop records would sound like McDermott’s. For now we’ll have to make do with this.

Caomhan Keane