Eugene McGuinness - Wendy Wonders

(Muso's Guide, June 18, 2009)

Single review

Leytonstone’s chief troubadour is back with more wryly observed pith and middle England melancholia than you can shake a stick at.

‘Wendy Wonders’ is the epitome of Eugene McGuinness‘ split musical personality - one the one hand, an injection of punk with a side of snarling teen attitood, but on the other, a class which evades musical stars operating outwith the 1950s.

Vocally, Eugene’s echo-laden thrum owes more than a little to the mellow style of Matt Munro, the laconic beat drifting through like an early evening cabaret.

Opening on a spinning disco ball, the dreary club playing host to Eugene McGuinness and the Lizards in the ‘Wendy Wonders’ video really gives the Phoenix Club a run for its tired, tacky money.

Against a backing of tinsel and disco lights, a grey-t-shirted McGuinness mugs and giggles, all the while singing a maudlin ode to suburban sadness. Parading in the skinniest of jeans, there seems to be a definite risk of permanent physical damage among the onstage players.

Perfectly pitched to soundtrack a Smiths reunion night, there’s plenty of character in McGuinness’ never disappointing voice, and a myriad of funny lyrics make it clear that the apparent simplicity of ‘Wendy Wonders’ is a myth, and that there’s actually plenty going on here.

The lustful heartache of the lyric is a testament to young McGuinness’ sorcery, with lines like, “I’m a hollow man with twelve tin cans of woe” and “Wendy wonders why I’m still so cold/Proceeds to throw my stuff out the window”.

Emotional and intelligent, McGuinness has once again emitted a release which makes nothing of his tender years. Exquisite.