Harmacy
A few words on Sebadoh, David Gray, the Cork Music Resource Co-op, the Sultans of Ping, fanzines, government-funded rock ‘n’ roll and O’Dwyer’s Pharmacy, Cashel.
Harmacy (Domino Records, 1996).
Harmacy, Sebadoh’s sixth album, is getting reissued for its 30th anniversary in a 2xLP set. The original album will be packaged alongside an extra disc of bonus tracks, including alternate versions, B-sides, BBC sessions, and live material from the era.
Harmacy is one of my favourite albums from the mid-90s.
‘Beauty of the Ride’ (July 1996 - Domino Records, Rug 47) and ‘Ocean’ (Oct 1996 - Domino Records, Rug 50).
‘Beauty of the Ride’, the album’s lead single came out in July 1996. Harmacy was released in August and then a second single, ‘Ocean’, was released in October 1996. At the time I was DJing with John O’Leary at his Gigantic club on Friday nights in Sir Henry’s in Cork and these were huge tunes for us. Folk Implosion’s 1995 single ‘Natural One’ was another regular tune in the club.
‘Natural One’ was lifted from the the Kids soundtrack, an album that also contained songs by Daniel Johnston, Sebadoh and Slint. It was a touchstone album for me.
Folk Implosion - ‘Natural One’ 12” (London Records, 1995). Photograph by Paul McDermott.
‘Skull’, ‘Rebound’ and ‘Licence to Confuse’ from Sebadoh’s 1994 album Bakesale were also played in the club. Bakesale was great but Harmacy pushed Sebadoh onto another level.
“I’m astonished to say this,” wrote Jennifer Nine in her Melody Maker review of Harmacy. “And maybe it’s too soon to tell, but I think it’s the best album Sebadoh have made.”
“This sticks with the trio’s trademark blend of poignant lo-fi pop,” contended Music Week. “Aching balladry and raw garage punk, but its added consistency and accessibility could earn them a bona fide hit.”
In a Melody Maker interview with Ian Watson in August 1996 Sebadoh’s Lou Barlow said: “I think this record sounds like one clear product. I thought Bakesale was real thrown together and it was nearly all the same tempo. This LP has more of a range. It would be really nice if we could lull people into our way of thinking with this one. So they could open their minds to the fact that easy listening country rock does exist in the same world as thrash and these things can exist side by side in a cohesive manner.”
On Harmacy, with its 19 songs over 50 minutes, they did exist side by side.
Melody Maker (13 July 1996). Image from nothingelseon.
When Harmacy was released I was stunned because I recognised the pharmacy (with its missing “p”) depicted on the cover: O’Dwyer’s Pharmacy on Main Street in Cashel.
Anyone who ever travelled from Cork to Dublin in the pre-motorway days will remember that cars crawled bumper-to-bumper through Cashel. From the Cork side of the town the road turned 90 degrees left onto Main Street and there was O’Dwyer’s Pharmacy on the left about a hundred metres before Kearney’s Castle Hotel, the oldest domestic building in the middle of the town. The hotel is long closed but the castle still stands.
Melody Maker (2 November 1996). Image from nothingelseon.
Sebadoh’s Harmacy ensures that Main Street, Cashel is highlighted on my imaginary “Indie Map of Ireland”. My map includes pins for: Gallarus Oratory in Corca Dhuibhne (as featured in Julian Cope’s video for ‘Beautiful Love’), Ballintaggart Racecourse in Dingle (as featured in James’ video for ‘Runaground’) and the foot of Mount Errigal in Co. Donegal (where The Chills filmed the video for their ‘Heavenly Pop Hit’). I imagine it as an indie music version of the Discovering Ireland board game.
Clearly I have too much time on my hands.
Rock of Cashel, July 2026. Photograph by Paul McDermott.
The pharmacy is still in Cashel. I was there this summer. I drove from Cork to Dublin with my eldest son and we took a detour off the M8 to visit the Rock. He was unsure why I stopped and stared misty-eyed at a chemist on Main Street.
The chemist’s facade has been given a makeover and above the shopfront is a new sign. “O’Dwyer’s Pharmacy”. The “p” has been replaced. The first floor windows are new but they still have the recognisable wrought iron window grilles.
I’ve taken the liberty of updating Sebadoh’s artwork imagining what it might look like if the photograph was taken today.
Harmacy (Domino Records, 1996) and my 2026 mockup.
In an old interview journalist Michael Stutz asked Barlow where the name Harmacy came from.
“It’s the cover of the album, a photo Jason [Loewenstein] took when the band was on tour for Bakesale,” explained Barlow.
“We did a little tour of Ireland, and Jason took this picture of this totally rundown pharmacy from the van window, and the pharmacy was just run down to the point where the “p” had actually fallen off, really big letters, too, and when we were looking for pictures for the album… when we saw the pharmacy picture we’re like, ‘That’s it, that’s the fucken’ title right there!’”
Melody Maker (9 November 1996). Image from nothingelseon.
The Irish tour Barlow mentions was in late July 1994.
At the time I was working in the Cork Music Resource Co-op. A few years ago I spoke to Ed Power about the Co-op for his Irish Examiner feature: B-Side the Leeside: ‘Ten by Ten’ and Cork’s mid-90s indie soundscape.
I told Ed that, “The Co-op had a practice room on Gerard Griffin Street that bands could use and a drop-in resource centre in the old Thompson’s Bakery on MacCurtain Street. The Co-op provided information to musicians and bands on all aspects of the music industry. It also designed posters and flyers and promoted small gigs. It offered office administrative services to bands – fax machine, photocopying, the use of a telephone and a postal address. It’s hard to imagine how hard it was for bands to access all of these things in a pre-internet age.”
The Co-op enabled a gang of us to avail of a Community Employment scheme, a work placement that provided training and aimed to get people off the dole and into the workplace.
The Co-op also took over the publication of Jim Comic and Morty McCarthy’s fanzine Choc-A-Bloc.
Bakesale (Domino Records, 1994) and Choc-A-Bloc (Issue 21 - July 1994). Photograph by Paul McDermott.
Issue 21 of Choc-A-Bloc was published in mid-July 1994. It has a review by Emmet Greene of a No Means No gig in Sir Henry’s (8 June 1994), “it’s like will never be seen again!” Paul Rudden reviewed Wide-Eyed and Ignorant declaring: “the fourth album from A House and it’s their best yet.”
I reviewed the first two Oasis singles (‘Supersonic’ and ‘Shaker Maker’) and end by writing: “two good singles worth checking out if only to see what all the fuss is about.” Little did I think etc.
No Means No ticket stub.
In the “News” section on the frontpage of the tri-fold A4 fanzine it states:
“Sebadoh will play The Village in an early gig on Sunday 24th July fresh from their appearance at the Phoenix Festival the lineup includes former bass player Lou Barlow from Dinosaur Jr. Support on the night by Prides Purge and Kashmir.”
Further down the news section is the following titbit:
“Shuffle in The Village on Saturdays promises anything from Ministry to The Specials.”
I was the DJ for Shuffle a club night that was promoted by my old friend Shane Fitzsimons. Shane was also the promoter bringing Sebadoh to Cork.
Advert from the Cork City FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur FC programme for the pre-season friendly in Musgrave Park on 29 July 1989.
The Village was the venue underneath Sir Henry’s, part of the Grand Parade Hotel complex. The venue was called The Village for Shane’s clubs and gigs but otherwise it was known as An Sráidbhaile.
An Sráidbhaile had a huge open hearth fireplace, old Irish shopfronts, cobbled floors, milk churns and a horse cart. This wasn’t a venue decorated in rusting bicycles and old metal advertising signs like tacky Irish pubs the world over, this was an actual recreation of an old Irish village from the late 1800s inside an entertainment venue. An Sráidbhaile was mainly used for traditional Irish music and set-dancing and was also hired out for other events.
When the Sultans of Ping started making waves in the early 90s a journalist from The Face magazine arrived in Cork to interview the band and review their gig in Sir Henry’s. The Sultans’ Morty McCarthy walked the journalist through the hotel complex to get to Henry’s. When they reached An Sráidbhaile there was a group from the Legion of Mary kneeling in a circle in the middle of the dancefloor reciting a decade of the rosary.
If the band had tried to stage a more surreal scenario to present to a writer from the UK’s leading style, fashion and culture monthly magazine, in their wildest dreams they could not have imagined such a scene.
Morty walked by without blinking, the English journalist stood glued to the floor staring at the prayer vigil, he looked around taking in his surroundings and then turned towards Morty open-mouthed. He was speechless.
Morty shrugged his shoulders and said, “Welcome to Cork.”
Choc-A-Bloc Issue 21 - Gigs to Watch For Pt1
Inside Choc-A-Bloc was a list of “Gigs To Watch For”. A list of eight gigs recommended by various members of the Co-op.
Down By Law, the great LA punk band, were playing in Deburcas on White Street on the 15th promoting their album, Punkrockacademyfightsong.
Derry’s Scheer had released their debut single ‘Wish You Were Dead’ in late 1993, and were heading to The Village the following night, supported by Cork’s own riot grrrls Amazonic Siege.
On the 17th Vitamin X, not the Dutch hardcore band but the 80s reggae band from Ghana, were in Henry’s - Cork was always a huge reggae town.
Scheer - ‘Wish You Were Dead’ (Son Records, 1993) and Big Bag of Sticks - Run Wild EP (Rescue Music, 1994).
Galway’s Big Bag of Sticks were in Deburcas on the 21st of the month.
“What do Big Bag of Sticks sound like?”
“They’re a crusty band.”
In 1994 everyone knew exactly what that meant.
Big Bag of Sticks were a brilliant live band and had just released their Run Wild EP. Recorded in Connolly’s of Leap by Paddy McNicholl, Run Wild was the first release on his Rescue Music record label.
My troubles began with the gigs on the bottom half of the page…
Choc-A-Bloc Issue 21 - Gigs to Watch For Pt2
The Orange Fettishes, a band I later managed, supported Wilde Oscars in Nancy Spains on the 22nd. Wilde Oscars had just released their debut single ‘Falling Down’.
David Gray was in Deburcas on the 24th. This was a gig promoted by the Music Co-op and I’ve written about it previously (Flotsam: Cork’s Old Venues).
On July 29th Manhole were in Deburcas with Wormhole. An amazing double bill. This was the Cork launch of Wormhole’s Chick Dig Scars album. I devoted Episode 9 of my podcast To Here Knows When - Great Irish Albums Revisited to the album.
Wilde Oscars - ‘Falling Down’ (WO Records, 1994) and Wormhole - Chicks Dig Scars (Dead Elvis Records, 1994).
But, before that gig, Sebadoh are listed as playing in The Village. The gig was to take place on July 24th, the same night as David Gray’s, Co-op promoted gig, but unfortunately the cut-and-paste nature of the fanzine makes it look like the Sebadoh gig is on July 29th.
This is where things got really sticky for me. Two gigs happening on the same night in a small town, with an even smaller gig-going audience. If that wasn’t bad enough, it looked like we had published the wrong date.
Crap.
I dropped off copies of Choc-A-Bloc into Comet Records on Washington Street. I continued on my rounds leaving a few copies of the fanzine in various pubs and cafes. Shane had been in Comet and had picked up a copy. He noticed the Sebadoh listing and wasn’t happy. He grabbed all of the fanzines from the window sill by the door and stormed out of the record shop. He was after me.
He found me outside Paul Street Shopping Centre, renamed Rory Gallagher Place in 1997.
What happened next must have been hilarious to the onlookers that stood and stared at us.
Shane and I have slight speech impediments and though normally unnoticeable as our tempers flared I know we stammered as we argued.
Shane threw all the fanzines at me and accused the Co-op of sabotaging his Sebadoh gig.
I started picking up the fanzines and screamed at him: “What are you talking about?”
I looked at Choc-A-Bloc and saw the Sebadoh gig listing right next to the words “July 29th”. Five days after the scheduled gig.
Crap.
We shouted back and forth and then he hit me with his best shot:
“The Co-op, it’s nothing but government-funded rock ‘n’ roll.”
He had me.
I was silenced.
Shane takes up the story: “MCD were doing the tour and they had told me that I could get Sebadoh on the Sunday. Five days before the gig I was talking to the booking agent and said I was looking forward to Sunday. He said it’s Monday.”
Shane continues: “I told him it wasn’t and that I had the fax from MCD saying the gig was booked for a Sunday. He thought he’d lose his job and I told him that he wouldn’t and that I’d run the gig on the Monday. I told him that he owed me big time. He told me that he’d cover any losses from his own pocket.”
Five days out, Sebadoh was moved to a Monday night in Sir Henry’s. Shane was up against it, nobody in Cork went to gigs on a Monday night.
“Even if The Beatles were playing,” says Shane. “Cork punters didn’t do Mondays.”
The David Gray gig went ahead on the Sunday night and 100 punters packed into Deburcas.
Sebadoh’s rescheduled Monday night booking led Shane to print off a now legendary A3 landscape poster (well legendary in my world).
I’ve been unable to track it down but if memory serves me it stated: “Sebadoh feat. Lou Barlow, once of Dinosaur Jr, who inspired Nirvana.”
Nirvana’s name was larger than Dinosaur Jr’s, which was larger than Sebadoh’s.
Shane remembers the poster. “Sebadoh were looking for what passed for big money back then,” he says. “I do regret not being able to tell them why the poster was more like a begging letter.”
You gotta do what you gotta do.
The Holy Grail of Cork indie gig posters.
I was afraid to show my face at the Sebadoh gig, I thought Shane would still be annoyed with me.
Someone who did make the gig was Stephen Rennicks (of Abstract Analogue).
“I was on a cycle trip along the Ring of Kerry and luckily the gig in Cork coincided,” remembers Stephen.
“I went to the venue early and met Jason Loewenstein and Bob Fay outside Sir Henry’s. We talked about the tour and about the Beamish brewery as it was just there opposite Sir Henry’s. They were nice people. They said it was okay to watch their soundcheck so myself and a few other fans got upstairs.”
“The gig was great. I chatted to the band again afterwards and they all signed the flyer for the gig. Lou signed it “Louis Barlow” but sadly I have misplaced it.”
“I did tell them I was going to be in Dublin at the Rock Garden the next day as I lived there,” continues Stephen.
“The next night Jason recognised me in the crowd and I could see him in between songs say to Bob Fay something like, “there’s the guy who we chatted to in Cork”. The show in Dublin seemed much fuller. It was cool to see them twice as I was a big fan at the time.”
Paul English (of A Pop Fan’s Dream) was also in attendance at the Dublin gig.
“I was at the Rock Garden gig and stage-dived during ‘Rebound’ and again during ‘Skull’,” recalls Paul.
“I was living in a flat in Donnybrook at the time. I moved out of that flat a few weeks later and Bakesale with the free 7” was the first record I played in the new place and I got a complaint about noise during ‘Magnet’s Coil’. Not a good start.”
Jason Loewenstein took the Harmacy photograph when the band drove through Cashel either on the way to, or from, the Cork gig.
The booking agent came good on his word recalls Shane, “Six months later he came through and gave me a plus one for the David Bowie show in the Olympia.”
When I play my reissue of Harmacy, I’ll think of O’Dwyer’s Pharmacy, Choc-A-Bloc, the Music Co-op and “government-funded rock ‘n’ roll”.