Eamon The Destroyer – ‘The Maker’s Quit’ (2025)
Eamon has wreaked havoc and destroyed expectations for years now, whether it be as an Idiot Half-Brother to his Ageing Children or blending carnival carousel tunes with a gruff mumble: gorillas that dream, buffaloes that sing, or fireflies creep-crawling up your legs.
All in a bit of fun, of course. His third solo extrusion finds room for the funky backflipper-cum-ballroom waltz, ‘Silverback.’ Wait—this needs a little extraneous noise, space-age bachelor pad bubbles, and some Renaissance lute plucking to right the sinking ship. None to worry—Eamon’s at the wheel!
Speaking of… ‘Three Wheels’ are better than two in Eamon’s mitts, so let’s pull an Ian Dury cha-cha out of our, er, bum and sashay across the dance floor, trying not to crash into that dreamy intermission, which explodes into a gorgeous De Wolfe library excerpt from the lifestyles of the rich and famous cruising the Côte.
An ominous ‘Ocean’ sounds like Eamon was escorted out of the room while auditioning for a music cue for an episode of Game Of Moans that answers the question all Deadheads have been pondering for half a century: what exactly did happen to the baby? ‘Captive’ has a tad too many cooks adding to the recipe for my taste, delivering a bit of jazz, avant skronk, folk, and navel-gazing philosophy—but ‘Firefly In The Leg’ is about as jaunty a little earwig as I’d expect for whiling away the time digging that little bugger out. Makes it a little less gruesome a task. And then, when the Spanish waiter and his guitar come round to your table, you can plop the bastard in his tip cup and dance a little jig while sexy saxophonic blasts keep you awake “until Sunday morning.”
‘Pleasureland’ is just that—like an afternoon with Bert Jansch at the local, entertaining the neighbourhood until the orchestra arrives to chase the undesirables. An occasional hint at a wordless vocal cues the orch to try their hand at some Cabaret-styled German deca-dance. Toss in a whistling opera singer from a misused 1920s wax cylinder and wake up the barkeep to whisper through a weeper from the Sheffield bard Richard Hawley with a Roger Quigley chaser.
It’s not over until ‘The Buffalo Sings.’ Time, gentlemen.
Jeff Penczak
Eamon The Destroyer – ‘The Maker’s Quit’ (Bearsuit Records)
