• This Month In Irish Music: June

    July 5, 2019 - By 

    Was June the strongest month in Irish music this year so far? By way of Girl Band, Yankari, Uly, Roisin Murphy and more, Colin Gannon makes a strong case in his monthly round-up. Girl Band — Shoulderblades Girl Band (pictured) are back. Dara Kiely’s ungodly, contorted howl is back, as exorcistic and scabbed as ever. In the same month that Two Door Cinema Club made their excruciatingly ghastly comeback, Ireland’s revered purveyors of shadowy, techno-informed noise rock arose from their slumber. Kiely’s health problems led at least in part to their lack of visibility over the past few years, creating a…

  • Girl Band Announce New Album, Live Dates & Video For Shoulderblades

    June 6, 2019 - By 

    Earlier today, we rather giddily shared ‘Shoulderblades’, the emphatic new single from Dublin quartet Girl Band. Now, comprehensively sealing the deal on the release is long-time collaborator Bob Gallagher’s new accompanying video, featuring Oona Doherty. Mirroring the song’s erratic and frenzied push-and-pull, not least viva frontman Dara Kiely’s trademark expulsions, Doherty’s performance is an accomplished, at times suitably brutal accompaniment to hands down one of the Irish tracks of the year thus far. Better still is the news that many Girl Band fans have been hoping for. The band will release their second album, The Talkies, via Rough Trade on September 28. Produced…

  • Watch: Girl Band – Shoulderblades

    June 6, 2019 - By 

    In their absence over the last couple of years, Girl Band’s reputation has only grown and grown. Much of that stemmed from uncertainty. Would we ever see them perform again? Would new music ever see the light of day? The afternoon of May 13th brought an answer. The Dara Kiely-fronted quartet – who, in such a short period of time, proved one of the most influential Irish guitar bands since My Bloody Valentine – would return with a new single, ‘Shoulderblades’. Sure enough, hyperspace near caved in on itself. Girl Band were back. Released today, it is, in no uncertain terms, a…

  • Girl Band To Return With New Single, ‘Shoulderblades’

    May 13, 2019 - By 

    After a long time away, one of the country’s very best bands, Girl Band, will return with a new single next month. The Dara Kiely-fronted four-piece will release ‘Shoulderblades’ digitally on June 6 via Rough Trade and as a 12″ single, limited 750 copies with an etching on the b-side, on June 7. Pre-order it here now.

  • Girl Band Cancel All Upcoming Shows

    May 9, 2017 - By 

    Having previously cancelled tour dates in 2015 and 2016 for the same reason, Dublin’s Girl Band have announced that all upcoming tour dates have been cancelled due to health issues. Posting on Facebook, the band said, “We’re very sorry to announce that due to health issues in the band we have to cancel all upcoming shows for this year. We sincerely apologise to all the promoters and fans affected by this.” As comments under said status have already repeatedly pointed out, health is paramount here; the fans can wait, health cannot. All the best to the guys from everyone at…

  • Hyperbolex with Ray Wingnut: Rough Trade

    January 10, 2017 - By 

    To INSPIRE: to fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do something, especially to do something creative. At the beginning of a new year, we probably all need a bit of inspiration. To feel inspired, to have the energy and the will to begin or to continue. For me personally, to be inspired is something that I’m always chasing. It’s not always easy to find or hold on to. But it is an energy or life source. To inspire also means to breathe in. Or in the recent first episode of This Ain’t No Disco, Dónal Dineen used a…

  • Festival Mixtape: Metropolis 2016

    November 3, 2016 - By 

    Set to bring the veritable cream of the sonic crop to Dublin’s RDS this weekend, Metropolis is undoubtedly one of those festivals worthy of being doubly filed under “must-attend”. Ahead of the three-night blitz of sight and sound, stream our twenty-track Metropolis Festival Mixtape, featuring DJ Shadow, Moderat, Girl Band, Jessy Lanza, BADBADNOTGOOD (pictured), The Sugar Hill Gang, Novelist, Shura, Crystal Castles and the mighty Grace Jones, below.

  • Watch: Girl Band – In Plastic

    June 21, 2016 - By 

    Surrealism is no unbeaten path for Girl Band, and the latest video from the Dublin noise-rock darlings, as usual directed by long-time collaborator Bob Gallagher, takes matters in a much more grimly funny direction. Set in a security line, somewhere, someplace, the video for ‘In Plastic’ mirrors in Gallagher’s inimitable manner the current paranoia around borders, travel, and security, as things quickly unravel for our nameless protagonist. Speaking with Spin mag in the States, Gallagher expands on its themes: “the video is obviously totally ridiculous in many ways, but it touches on themes of surveillance, paranoia, and how arbitrary the…

  • Girl Band @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    April 4, 2016 - By 

    There is a sense of mystery about the Girl Band show at Vicar Street tonight. They have not played Dublin since releasing their debut LP Holding Hands With Jamie in September 2015. They rescheduled their Dublin show since cancelling their North American and European tours, including the Button Factory in November. They have since whittled down their new tour to a handful of dates worldwide, including Pitchfork Festival in Chicago where they are the only Irish act to play. This is a hot ticket to have. From the moment you walk in the front door you can smell the anticipation.…

  • Girl Band Announce String of New Dates

    November 18, 2015 - By 

    Having had to pulled out of European and Northern American dates due to “health issues in the band” last month Dublin noise-rock masters Girl Band have announced a string of new dates for 2016, culminating at their biggest show in Ireland to date at Vicar Street on Friday, April 1. The Dara Kiely-fronted band have also unveiled a live Rough Trade session version of ‘Baloo’, a highlight on the band’s critically-acclaimed debut album, Holding Hands With Jamie. Watch it and check out the new dates below. Fri 22nd Jan – Brewery Corner, Kilkenny, Ireland Sat 23rd Jan – Gabo’s, Castlebar, Ireland Wed 17th…