Cathal Coughlan
One of the most apt terms ever applied to Irish-born singer-songwriter Cathal Coughlan is “churl.” He leads a side project called Bubonique and entitled one of its records Trance Arse Vol. 3. He’s fond of song titles like “Ray of Hope, Hoe of Rape” and “Be Dead,” and he’s got an audible jones for those high priests of churlishness, Ministry.
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Coughlan’s headlong rush to obscurity began in 1984 with his band Microdisney, an engaging group destined for oblivion until cofounder Sean O’Hagan hit it comparatively big with the High Llamas. Back when postpunk guitar gremlins like the Jesus and Mary Chain, Husker Du, and the Replacements were defining rock’s cutting edge in terms of decibels and distortion, Microdisney released its ironically titled debut album, Everybody Is Fantastic, which brimmed with songs so quiet, melodic, and elegant they made the Smiths sound like Iron Maiden. But those lovely, wistful melodies were paired with crotchety expressions of disgusted resignation and contempt, and in a period when real singing was decidedly out of fashion, Coughlan belted them out in a rich baritone brogue better suited to Broadway.
Coughlan resurfaced in 1989 leading Fatima Mansions, a ragtag quintet named for a dingy Dublin housing project. As grunge loomed, Fatima Mansions turned out to be almost as unsuited to its time and place as Microdisney had been. The band’s early singles and its debut mini LP, Against Nature, contained a weird mix of punchy, new-waveish rock and gorgeous, despairing keyboard-based ballads. A faithful B-side cover of Ministry’s “Stigmata” only confused listeners further.
On the hushed, brooding “Officer Material,” one of the most beautiful examples of orchestrated pop in recent memory, he describes a government agent leaving the scene of an accident she’s deliberately caused. Coughlan sets the words to a gorgeous wash of strings and delicate acoustic guitar arpeggios. Though the music at first seems to clash with the lyrics, it actually underscores the moral ambivalence of the protagonist:
She could pass for ten years younger
If she showed any sadness or fear
