Black Coats & Bandages is the second full-length album by Irish-Australian band Clann Zú. This album has much sparser instrumentation and less electronic influence than Clann Zú's previous album, Rua, and a heavier use of the Irish language. Black Coats & Bandages explores similar issues as Rua, but also touches on themes of imperialism, war, organized religion, and personal struggles.

Reception

AllMusic's Stewart Mason expressed a difficulty in describing Black Coats & Bandages: "close to impossible to sum up in an easy sentence, because there are so many comparisons" and decided "[it] is undeniably flawed, and several listens will be necessary before it all begins to make some kind of sense, but as perhaps the most wide-ranging and eclectic band this side of Canada's Broken Social Scene, Clann Zu continue to impress." Adam White of Punknews.org compared it to the group's debut album Rua, and found that it "is completely raw, shockingly so. It's a record of mid to slow paced ballads, sparely arranged and sparsely produced. The prevailing theme in the title track (and the band's press) is 'funeral oration'." Maarten Schiethart of PennyBlackMusic noted that when "De Barra sings rather than whines, his voice shows a fine soulful style, yet when the preaching starts – Black Coats and Bandages is on G7 Welcoming Committee after all – the Clann Zú sound becomes pretty mundane".

Track listing

Music by Clann Zú; lyrics by Declan de Barra.