DUBLIN

1986 -

OVERVIEW Something Happens. It is a modest name for a band that has piled up eight top ten singles and a slew of industry awards, including best live band, single, musician and record of the year in their native Ireland. It would be more pointed to say that everything happens when this dynamic foursome plays, evidenced by their upcoming debut on Iguana Records, Alan, Elvis & God, a coalescence of intelligent, biting lyricism, dexterous guitar work and infectious, power pop rhythms. The year was 1986 when vocalist Tom Dunne, guitarist Ray Harman, bassist Alan Byrne and drummer Eamonn Ryan banded together to become Something Happens. The group stormed onto the local Dublin pub and club scene, sweeping up a loyal fan base and enough cash to finance their first EP release "Two Chances," which featured the track "Burn Clear." Major label interest soon followed and in 1987, after signing with Virgin Records in the UK, the band released their debut studio album, Been There, Seen That, Done That. Produced by Tommy "Ramone" Erdelyi, Been There... earned the band top honors for Best Debut LP in the Readers' Poll awards from Irish music magazine Hot Press and went on to birth three hit singles. Stateside, the album was available on import only, but choice critics took notice, paving the way for Something Happens' 1989 American debut, Stuck Together with God's Glue. Produced by Ed Stasium, Hits magazine hailed Stuck as "a truly wonderful record," and The Hard Report recognized that "God's Glue has nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with songwriting." The album became a staple at college radio with "Hello, Hello, Hello (Petrol)" and "Kill the Roses" both receiving heavy rotation. The band toured extensively in support of Stuck, playing sold out shows throughout Ireland, England, Europe and America. Never content to simply reproduce themselves, Something Happens' third album, 1992's Bedlam A Go Go, unleashed the band's untamed energy and surpassed the expectations of fans and critics alike. Bedlam A Go Go's intense, emotional live-wire sound balanced by Dunne's brutally vivid lyrics reflected a heroin-struck Dublin harrowed by the ravaging AIDS epidemic. Harman's guitar playing rips and soars relentlessly through such heavyweights as "Inviral Love," "Select," "Daisyland," and "Fellow Feeling." The album struck a fierce chord with Irish fans who voted Something Happens best live band over perennial faves U2 in the Hot Press' 1992 Readers' Poll. Something Happens spent the next two years touring America and writing songs for their fourth studio album Planet Fabulous. Their deal with Virgin at an end, Planet Fabulous was released by BMG in August of 1994, adding another chunk of classic pop singles to the band's already mighty catalogue. The band continued touring in the States and in 1995 was invited to open and play back-up on the Warren Zevon tour. A decade later, Something Happens has found a new home on Iguana Records and are set to release Alan, Elvis & God, their most cohesive, self-assured and potent recording to date. The album kicks off with "Are You My Girl?" a disasters be damned love song driven by Byrne's stomping bass work. "70's Wedding," offers an uneasy slice of nostalgia encased in Dunne's sly songwriting style which is again astutely achieved on the next track, "Fataler Femmes," a wry accolade, in part, to America's beloved Amy Fisher. The at once ethereal and stormy "Momentary Thing," the Neil Young inspired "Flag" and the word-wary lamentation "Word of Mouth," each reflect Something Happens' keen ability to infuse their euphonic melodies with observant, provocative themes. And Harman's nimble guitar playing pushes and rises through "Time Stands Still," "She Waits For the Sound," and the Something Happens' live show classic, "Firelighter." On a lighter note, "C.C. Incidentally" displays the band's true pop tunefulness in a tribute without modesty to Ms. Cindy Crawford. Alan, Elvis & God comes full circle with a final surge of power on "These Are Not My Friends," leaving the listener packed with energy and aching to play this opus through again. Biography taken from imusic.com