Q Magazine – 29th March 2012

Richard Hawley meets The Jesus & Mary Chain; beautiful, sad songs ensue.

Bristol’s Danny “Crybaby” Coughlan grew up in a house where listening to Jimmy Savile’s Old Record Club each and every Sunday was The Law. Consequently, echoes of The Beach Boys, Phil Spector and Elvis, and their descendents Morrissey, Richard Hawley and The Jesus & Mary Chain, are all over Crybaby’s darkly dramatic and lyrical music. Guitars rumble and twang, drums (played by Merrick from Adam And The Ants) rattle and Coughlan croons in tender tribute to love lost, hearts broken and dreams crushed. Unafraid to be both beautiful and sad, songs such as Shame and Misery Of Love are like Roy Orbison tackling Scott Walker, while the startlingly wonderful I Cherish The Heartbreak More Than The Love That I Lost may be the best new song you’ll hear all year. – Rob Fitzpatrick