… the Aran jumper crowd
(Pat Carty, ‘The Sunday Times, 3rd December 2023)
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shane-macgowan-the-man-who-made-irish-music-cool-gj0fvk505
(apologies, it’s probably behind a firewall)
Rum Sodomy & the Lash made it into the UK Top 20 in 1985 and it was likely the first time most of us heard of them. MacGowan’s songwriting had taken a quantum leap and the band were also able to run at an old standard like Dirty Old Town and make it their own. It’s no exaggeration to say the album made Irish music acceptable to many ears and rescued it from the Aran jumper crowd.