THE POPES — Holloway Boulevard (Snapper Music)

The Popes are best-known as the band which cover up Shane MacGowan's increasingly shambolic live performances.

They have now released an album in their own right. The album is heavily influenced by MacGowan — what London Irish band is not — and it does not suffer for that comparison.

The Popes large live following will know what to expect from Holloway Boulevard. It is high octane, irreverent and well-crafted Irish folk rock. The lyrics drip with the same kind of urban disenchantment that informed MacGowan's music — the title track a case in point. "The dreamers, the schemers and the hards /The buskers just beggars with guitars/All lying in the gutter looking at the stars/On Holloway Boulevard.

The album is full of references to drug taking and general merriment, but there are tender moments like Sleepless Nights and New Rose. Some of the songs have a sameness about them. The Popes may need MacGowan for a while yet, but this is a very good debut by a band that deserves more.