• Field Trip – Evening’s Over EP

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    There’s something so interminably pleasant about Evening’s Over, the latest EP from pop rockers Field Trip. An undeniable ennui and melancholy run throughout. Yet they’re wrapped up in an infectious brand of pop goodness that’s hard not to get lost in. Yet these aren’t throwaway nuggets. The band understands how to introduce scope and scale into what could otherwise be inconsequential mush.   Take the opener ‘Wait’, for example. It starts off as a twitchy, yet straightforward indie pop track with a great big meaty fuzzed out chorus. But by the midpoint of the song, we transitioned to shredding solos…

  • Helmet, Rubberbandits and More Set For BARE in the Woods

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    Set to return to Garryhinch Woods in Portarlington across June 9-11, several new acts have been added to the bill for this year’s BARE in the Woods festival. As well as Akala, WhoMadeWho, Alvarez Kings, Jon Stevens (INXS), The Frank & Walters, RSAG, Chastity Brown and Bunoscionn, US alt-metal masters Helmet (pictured), The Rubberbandits and – wait for it – Right Said Fred have all been revealed to join the likes of the previously-announced Mike Skinner, House of Pain and more. With more acts still to be announced, check out the full line-up and go here to buy tickets.

  • Watch: Hiva Oa – Jonny Brazil

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    Comprised of two core members in Stephen Houlihan and Christine Tubridy as well as three interchangeable live members, Belfast’s Hiva Oa have been riding a steady wave of acclaim and momentum over the last few months. A highlight from their sublime 2016 EP mk 2 (part 1) (which we premiered here) single ‘Jonny Brazil’ now comes accompanied with a video that very nicely reflects the song’s dominant themes of escapism and grasping for clarity. Ahead of the the release of mk 2 (part 1), check out the video below.

  • Premiere: Sissy – Nice Guy

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    Featuring the likes of Trust Fund, Lower Slaughter and Milk Crimes, today sees the release of Put Ears on Yourself, the first in a new 7″ single series curated by Sligo imprint – and easily one of our favourite Irish labels – Art For Blind Records. Each 7” will feature 4 bands from Ireland and the UK and will be housed in a series of limited edition screen printed sleeves designed by emerging artists, designers and illustrators. Our favourite of the four tracks on Put Ears on Yourself is ‘Nice Guy’ by Dublin three-piece Sissy, which we’re pleased to premiere here.…

  • Album Premiere: Our Krypton Son – Fleas & Diamonds

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    Four years ago Derry songsmith Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son released one of the all-time great Irish debut solo albums. A self-titled release, it traversed an extraordinary palette of heart-wrung balladry and fervent, at times quite remarkable pop majesty. Today McConaghy returns with its highly-anticipated follow-up, Fleas & Diamonds. A wonderfully refined release – in both senses of the word – it betrays the hallmarks of an artist whose knack for weaving exquisite, emotionally potent songwriting with crushingly resonant lyrics is unparalleled on this island at present. Conceived over two days, from a tent pitched in an abandoned building on…

  • Premiere: Slouch – whiteboyfilingcabinetfaxmachinestapler

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    Following up on their Feminine Elbows EP from last year, the pop culture-savvy scuzzy alt. rock trio Slouch channel some Office Space-era jobsworth apathy on their latest release, the two-track whiteboyfilingcabinetfaxmachinestapler. The first of five singles to be released over the coming months by the industrious triad of South Dublin fellas, they know too well the meaning of the suburban minutia and drudgery rhymed off on its constituent parts, whiteboyfilingcabinetfaxmachinestapler & whiteboycoffeemachinebaker. Building on their traditionally QOTSA & Pixies-esque desert & alt-rock leanings, the band have upped their dosage of indie & garage rock energy – à la self-titled-era Blur & Ty Segall – and laced it with even…

  • Logan

    March 9, 2017 - By 

    Finally! Writer/director James Mangold (Walk The Line) has made up for the damp squib that was 2013’s The Wolverine, with a fantastic final outing for Hugh Jackman that transcends the usual superhero formula and delves into a much darker, violent and more vulnerable, nearly dystopian world. Unlike the many other movies of this genre, Logan gives the viewer a feeling of realism, substance and heart, of the type that has never been seen in the rest of the Marvel or DC worlds, making for an instant classic. In the year 2029, mutants are all but a thing of the past,…

  • George Best: All By Himself

    March 9, 2017 - By 

    George Best: All By Himself begins in darkness, with the voices of commentators eulogising George Best’s remarkable footballing talent, before the dreamlike moment is shattered by a recollection of Best’s ex-wife Angie of seeing a homeless man walking along the road, only to realise it was George. In Daniel Gordon’s documentary, football is secondary to the tragedy of Best’s personal demons, as Gordon attempts to unravel the enigma and get to the root cause of the star’s dramatic decline into alcoholism. Gordon’s film unfolds in a largely chronological structure, taking the audience from Best’s humble beginnings, through his meteoric rise…

  • Trespass Against Us

    March 9, 2017 - By 

    There is something very pseudo-Shakespearean about Trespass Against Us, and not just because of Michael Fassbender’s pedigree playing the mad Scottish king. This West Country Traveller crime drama revolves around the question of lineage and, in its own grubby way, dynastic fulfillment. The Cutlers are a family of Travellers who, along with the rest of their small nomadic community, have rejected conventional townie life and finance their existence with a spot of thieving on the side. At the head of the clan sits Brendan Gleeson’s Colby, usually seen squatting on his beaten-down leather armchair throne, who keeps a firm grip…

  • Grandaddy – Last Place

    March 9, 2017 - By 

    There are very few bands that can take a song and transform its tapestry multiple times within a four minute period. There are even fewer bands that execute this boldness in experimentation successfully. This impulsion to deviate from compositional convention is oft cited as self-indulgent or messy. Grandaddy, a band that have thrived on the lo-fi and literal homemade music have mastered the art of rogue arrangements. They have become known for creating a musical landscape populated by straightforward analogue instruments that co-exist with newer devices and effects to pave a route of meandering melodies. On paper, Last Place – Grandaddy’s…