Dublin Opinion

How much is the fish?
How much is the chips?
Does the fish have chips?” (Buffalo)

you know, there’s a lot to be said for dropping this whole tenuous link with reality that the Irish have nurtured in the past ten years or so and just get back to the brass tacks of Irishness: you know, being fucking nuts.

At a time when a lot of bands in Ireland were trying to be the next U2, there was a microcosm of craziness lapping itself up by the banks of the Lee that eventually shipped itself over to London. While there, one of its shapes shifted into Anglo-Irish band, Stump.

I was immediately reminded of Stump by the story below of a man having sex with a bicycle, and I can think of no better compliment to Mick Lynch, the band’s singer and lyricist. There is an excellent site dedicated to Stump, which is maintained by the band’s bass player, Kev Hopper. Last year, the members of Stump met up for the first time in twenty years. It took place in Cork, and Ken covers the event on his site.

The following is taken from the band’s Wikipedia entry:

Stump were an Anglo-Irish indie/experimental/rock group featuring Mick Lynch (vocals), Kev Hopper (bass), Rob McKahey (drums) and Chris Salmon (guitar) formed in London in 1983.

Their first release was a four track EP Mud on a Colon released in 1986 through the Ron Johnson record label. This was followed by a self released mini album Quirk Out produced by Hugh Jones which included their cult hit Buffalo. Buffalo also appeared on NME’s influential C86 compilation. Continuous UK touring, regular coverage in the UK music press - including cover features in both the NME and Melody Maker, and a memorable performance of ‘Tupperware Stripper’ on Channel 4’s The Tube ensured that Quirk Out stayed in the UK Indie Charts for 26 weeks, peaking at number 2[1]. Sessions for the John Peel radio show recorded during this time were released as a Peel Sessions album on Strange Fruit Records in 1987. Following these successes the band were signed to Ensign Records.

An album A Fierce Pancake released in 1988 was recorded in Berlin and London produced by Holger Hiller with assistance from Stephen Street. Three singles were released from this album Chaos, Charlton Heston and a re-released Buffalo. The album did not bring the crossover success the label had hoped for and the band split before any new material was released.

A 3-CD set compilation of Stump’s music is available from Sanctuary Records here.

Below is the video for Buffalo. This song appeared on the now-legendary c-86 cassette tape issued by NME.

Enjoy.