Jeff mangum sounds Irish

When i first heard the ITAOTS song, i tried so long to find it by searching any Irish band i could find (stupid, yes, but i had only heard a small amount of the song). Somehow, even as a Brit, i was convinced his wailing voice and accent had a semblance of Irish.

Obviously Jeff isnt Irish, but that interview with Peter Curran, 1998, he sounded weirdly Irish in some parts. My question to any etymology nerds or people with any knowledge of this is, does the Southern American accent resemble Irish in any way or is it just me?