• Premiere: Larry – WAH

    Made up of Joey Edwards, Aoife Ward and David Noonan, Dundalk three-piece Larry knocked our hungover, quietly contemplative socks off at Arcadian Field festival earlier this month. Filtering the imprint of the likes of Ryan Adams, Pixies and Wilco, the threesome’s brand of lo-fi alt-rock brims with burrowing pop sensibility and wonderfully-wielded lyrical pathos courtesy of frontman Edwards. Ahead of recording their debut album in Electrical Audio, Chicago with our Lord and Saviour, Steve Albini this September (keep your eyes peeled for a 12″ vinyl via Pizza Pizza Records) we’re pleased to present a first look at the video for the band’s new single ‘WAH’. Like the song – and…

  • Premiere: Dott – Wedding Song

    On the third anniversary of Dott members’ Anna and Evan’s wedding day, the Galway noise pop band have released a new video for the apt-titled ‘Wedding Song’. Taken from their stellar new album Heart Swell – which the band are marking with shows around the country – Dott’s chief songwriter, Anna wrote the song following the marriage in 2015 – the same year Same Sex Marriage was made legal in Ireland by popular vote. The video, by Madra Dana, is a look back at what weddings looked like before Same Sex Marriage was legal, while being juxtaposed with McCarthy’s lyrics which contemplate how the Marriage…

  • Watch: EHCO – Éiclips (Live)

    Back at the start of the year, we tipped Kilcoole’s EHCO as one of our ones to watch for 2018. Headed by ex-Enemies member Eoin Whitfield, the project has hit the ground running via a handful of shows and a brace of slick singles. The most recent of those – and, by our reckoning, the band’s strongest single effort to date – ‘Éiclips‘ now comes accompanied by a new live video. Filmed on location at the Mermaid Theatre in Bray, it was created by Rosie Barrett, with audio recorded and mixed by Eóin Murphy and lighting from Conor Biddle. Catch EHCO at the Ballroom…

  • Premiere: Hot Cops – Decay

    On Monday (July 30), Belfast indie rock stalwarts Hot Cops will release Speed Dating, a five-track EP that compiles remastered versions of their singles to date. Doubling up as a quick primer of-sorts, the release holds up as an all-killer insight into why the Carl Eccles-fronted band are widely considered to be one of the country’s very best (a theory you may have noticed we’ve shared over the last few years.) The release’s lead track, ‘Decay’ has long been a live highlight for the band. A three-minute blast of fuzzed-out slacker-pop, it’s a full-blown celebration of ennui that finds relief in both simple admittance and its feedback-soaked closing…

  • Premiere: Oisin O’Scolai & The Virginia Slims – Join Me in The Ground

    Hailing from Donegal, Derry-based artist Oisin O’Scolai is most certainly one to watch. Very accurately being dubbed by his label, Belfast’s Black Tragick Records, as “the Buncrana Beck” (alternatively “if Harry Nilsson was from Donegal” or a latter day Paul Westerberg if he hadn’t have got drunk with the Stinson brothers and started The Replacements”). Self-recorded and released as Oisin O’Scolai and the Virginia Slims, the stellar, slow-burning gothic-folk of ‘Join Me in the Ground’ was mixed Ben McAuley and sees O’Scolai wield subtlety and pathos like a scythe. Taken from his forthcoming debut album, Vacant Sea, the single comes yet more…

  • Premiere: Dugout – Ride

    One of several acts set to play the first ever Coaster in Portrush next Friday (July 20), Dugout are a new-fangled Belfast-based quartet whose debut single is a statement of intent. An earworming three-minute blast of Cuomo-conjuring indie-rock, the Ryan McGroarty-mixed, Rocky O’Reilly-engineered ‘Ride’ was, in the band’s own words, written about “that terrible job that we’ve all had.” Sealing the deal on the single is its video. Shot by Ciara McMullan and edited by Brendan Seamus aka BeeMickSee, it was filmed on location at Belfast venue Voodoo and features Dugout giving us a little preview of what to expect from their…

  • Watch: Tayne – Haunted

    Fronted by Galway native Matt Sutton, London-based noise-pop band Tayne has returned with new single – and their strongest track to date – ‘Haunted’. Lifted from the band’s forthcoming debut album, Breathe (which is expected some time in October) it’s a brilliantly full-blown, fist-clenched affair from the band, brimming with synth arpeggios, larynx-shredding vocals and a rhythm section that pummel without mercy. Speaking about the track’s homespun visuals, Sutton said, “With the video for ‘Haunted’, I wanted to recreate some of the themes from the record and also give an insight to the chaotic, intense live presence of the band. The…

  • Watch: Anna’s Anchor – White Washed Corridor

    Limerick alt-rock artist Marty Ryan AKA Anna’s Anchor has announced his new album, Everybody’s Welcome. Marking the news, Ryan has also unveiled the visuals for the album’s lead single, ‘White Washed Corridor’. He said, “It’s about my struggle to come to terms with my mother’s alcoholism and the ridiculously difficult, dangerous path I had to take in order to try and find help to come to terms with it, as the Irish government tries to turn a blind eye to mental health services, especially when it comes to alcohol related abuse.” Revolving around “the societal pressure and conformity of taking the road more…

  • Watch: Galants – In Vain

    In case you haven’t gathered, we’re big fans of Dublin shoegaze/dream-pop band Galants. So much so, that we ranked their self-titled EP as one of our favourites of 2017. Now, the four-piece have returned with their new single ‘In Vain’, lifted from their forthcoming second EP Follow. Set for release in Autumn via Zen Ten records, the new EP was partly recorded in a north Dublin attic before being placed in the capable hands of producer Dan Doherty at Darklands Audio. The track is a typically bright, emotive number from the group which takes “a sonic cue from from Ride and The…

  • Video Premiere: Dott – Bleached Blonde

    The sun is out and the mighty Dott are back with another summery tune. ‘Bleached Blonde’ is lifted directly from their new album Heart Swell, set for release on Graveface Records next week. The song is a slice of fuzzy-pop written about Anna McCarthy’s love of surfing and her self confessed lack of real talent for it. It’s a treat. Play loud. Pre-order Heart Well here.