• Sunflower Bean – Human Ceremony

    February 8, 2016 - By 

    One of the inherent issues of being part of the hype machine is that your teething pains stand a good chance of destroying  you. If you don’t come out of gestation period fully formed and with the next OK Computer neatly tucked into your back pocket then it’s back to the “2PM slot on the smallest stage” ghetto for you. Brooklyn’s Sunflower Bean, hotly tipped for indie rock stardom for the last two years, are victims of their own hype. Their debut LP, Human Ceremony, is a record borne of that expectation that struggles to find it’s own feet. Clear…

  • 16 For ’16: Paddy Hanna

    February 5, 2016 - By 

    Fifteen hugely promising, genre-spanning Irish acts down, we conclude our annual Ones to Watch feature with Dublin’s Paddy Hanna. Words by Cathal McBride. Photo: Mark Earley. Following his 2014 debut album Leafy Stilleto on Popical Island and a pair of strong 2015 singles, Dublin’s Paddy Hanna is on an upward trajectory that shows no sign of faltering any time soon. A string of Irish support dates with Girl Band last year with his backing band, including No Monster Club’s Bobby Aherne, has only helped to raise his profile further. Swapping his old band Grand Pocket Orchestra’s lo-fi art pop for…

  • Stream: Vogelbat – Banx

    February 4, 2016 - By 

    Over the course of the past year, Berlin based Kilkenny native Vogelbat has been steadily releasing a stream of tracks that have ceaselessly dazzled. Crafting instrumental hip-hop that draws from the pools like Trip-Hop and Avant-garde R&B is a tough job to do while still managing to sound sincere and professional. Where others may stumble and crash at the first pretentious hurdle of trying too hard to be “experimental”, Vogelbat’s music takes that experimentation and plays with it like a new toy, ensuring that it remains playful and heartfelt. Work on a debut LP continues, but in meantime we have…

  • 16 For ’16: Exploding Eyes

    February 4, 2016 - By 

    The penultimate act in our latest installment annual Ones to Watch feature – 16 For ’16 – Brian Coney profiles Dublin heavy psych trio Exploding Eyes. Photo by Derek Kennedy. Having released their wonderfully urgent, blues-soaked new single ‘We Need Love’ just last month, Dublin heavy psych trio Exploding Eyes tip their decidedly fuzzed-put hat to a gamut of garage-rock luminaries ranging from Mountain and Blue Cheer to Andromeda and Thee Oh Sees. Throwing both back and very much forward, their latest effort evokes the likes of Jon Spencer and the Doors at their most resounding to give us a…

  • Stream: 202’s – ‘Oh My My’

    February 3, 2016 - By 

    Dublin three piece 202s have been more or less silent since their self-titled debut release in 2009. The first sound they’ve made since then has now arrived in the form of the lush ‘Oh My My’, a hypno-pop chunk of fuzzed vocal harmonies and slowly grooving drums. The track draws influence from across the genre spectrum with plenty of psych-rock and Krautrock sounds embellishing the more contemporary comparisons to the likes of Alt-J or Foals’ more recent output. With a new album due to drop in Autumn of this year, 202s patient approach to releasing music appears indicative of a “quality over…

  • 16 For ’16: Strength

    February 3, 2016 - By 

    Having played our Independent Venue Week showcase at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre on Saturday night, Derry’s Strength are the latest Irish act we’ve handpicked as a “one to watch” throughout 2016 and beyond. Words by Brian Coney. Photos by James Cunningham. Arguably one of the bolder, more idiosyncratic propositions to emerge in the North over the last while, Derry’s Strength were formed from the smouldering embers of sadly-departed psychobilly art-rockers Red Organ Serpent Sound. With the release of the former’s bugged-out new single, ‘Northern Ireland Yes’ (their attempt to “embrace the cultural psyche of the North and send it back…

  • Watch: Damola – WorkFlow

    February 2, 2016 - By 

    The first release as part of the Word Up Collective – a new-fangled Dublin collective with a particular penchant for Irish hip-hop, pop, soul and R&B – ‘WorkFlow’ by Dublin’s Damola reveals an artist that has come on leaps and bounds since he started rapping back in 2008 before formed Backshed Inc. a quartet that includes Sam Ojo, Ange MC and video director Steven Beatsmith. Written in his bedroom and Dublin’s 25A bus, the track is a preview from Damola’s forthcoming ChildLIKE Mentality EP, a song that professes to give “an insight into his struggle in finding balance between dream chasing and making a living while…

  • 16 For ’16: A Bad Cavalier

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    As we edge ever closer to the end of our 16 For ’16 feature, in which we’ve been eagerly profiling sixteen Irish acts we’re putting good money on doing great things in 2016, Brian Coney envisions big things for ASIWYFA guitarist Niall Kennedy’s A Bad Cavalier. Photo by Joe Laverty When he’s not trotting the globe with North Coast post-rock maestros And So I Watch You From Afar, ex-Panama Kings main man Niall Kennedy is honing his wares at the helm of A Bad Cavalier. Whilst certainly echoing the varying triumphant stupor of the aforementioned outfits, the effortlessly tight alt-pop of…

  • Cian Nugent – Night Fiction

    January 31, 2016 - By 

    Night Fiction is Dubliner Cian Nugent’s third album; on previous instrumental releases he has shown himself to be a prodigious guitarist and composer, but this record sees Nugent’s vocal chops come to the fore.  His sound tips its hat to world folk music, including African folk; one of the continents great musical exports, Ali Farka Touré’s guitar playing is a good reference point.  Psych rock could also be cited as an influence, and as such his songs often have a hypnotic quality which allows you to immerse yourself in the detail. On ‘Lost Your Way’ guitar lines dance along whilst Nugent’s voice crackles…

  • The Record: Robocobra Quartet

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    In the latest installment of The Record, we eavesdrop and follow-up on the recording of ‘Kikazaru’, the superb new single from Belfast’s Robocobra Quartet. Photos by Colm Laverty. Hi Chris. ‘Kikazaru’ is the third “part” of the three-wise-monkeys songs you’ve written and recorded. Can you shed some light on the thematic/conceptual narrative threading the three installments? Chris Ryan (drums/vocals): It’s pretty loose. The lyrics were leaning that way for this collection of three songs and so the concept came in retrospect. It’s not strict by any means. For me, it helps not to get too lost in the process of…