• Shrug Life – ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    Every now and then you get hit with shocking realisations about local groups: some of them are actually brilliant. Not just in “ah for a bunch of lads from Fairview, they sure can write a tune” manner, but in a real proper sense. The North and South have produced a few of these: And So I Watch You From Afar, Hozier, Rubberbandits and Lisa Hannigan, to name a few. Given how exclusive of a club this really is though, it’s a marvellous joy to encounter them in the wild. Dublin’s Shrug Life is one of those groups. Bouncy, energetic Gang of…

  • Maze

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    Courting controversy is something that filmmakers have to be very wary of in this day and age, and for writer/director Stephen Burke (Happy Ever Afters) and producer Brendan J. Byrne (Bomb Squad Men), there is no escaping it when dealing with as delicate a subject as the true story of the mass breakout of Provisional IRA prisoners in Northern Ireland from one of Europe’s most secure prisons. But what the filmmakers have managed to create is a credible and well-balanced movie that does not glorify the act, though they make no bones about how much of a coup the escape…

  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    Of all the bands that have reunited over the years, one would not have expected Godspeed You! Black Emperor to have stuck to it. And yet, Luciferian Towers marks the Montreal ensemble’s third album since their return to touring in 2010, following on from 2012’s Polaris Prize winning Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend and 2015’s Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress. Those albums saw a progression of sorts in the collective’s signature sound, with both  featuring more thick drones and towering examples of thunderous interplay from guest orchestras. That a group of such inherent breath and scope can continue to expand and develop their sound…

  • EP Premiere: Ana Gog – Wake

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    Having formed while studying at NUI Maynooth, Dublin five-piece Ana Gog have been on a winding and wonderful journey over the last eleven years. The long-awaited follow-up to 2014 EP Resemblance, Wake marks a significant step in the band’s carefully-crafted aesthetic, with songs exploring themes of loss, inertia and rebirth. Recorded live at K9 and Arad Studios, it’s a candid, harmony-driven release in which the band’s collective talents interweave across four songs, from the gossamer-like sway of opener ‘Better Than Silence’ to the reflective, understated folk-pop of ‘Roze’s Kitchen (Wake)’. Upping the ante on all their previous output to date, there’s an almost voyeuristic intimacy to the…

  • mother!

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    mother! is a slow burner panic attack. Imagine being an introvert who throws a house party but sets the invitation as Public. You’re trying to scrub Glen’s and Fanta out of the nice rug but there’s a mob in your kitchen, and, suddenly, crash! The sound of plates hitting marble. Or you’re a young woman married to your professor, two decades your senior, and you give, and dote, and adore, but one day you realise he might not need you the way you need him, and that’s terrifying, and the more he withdraws the more desperate you get. Or you’re…

  • Album Premiere: Eoin Dolan – UBIQUE

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    For whatever combination of reasons, Galway has long been petri-dish for breeding some first-rate solo artists. One that has consistently kept our attention over the last while, Eoin Dolan is easily right up there with the most effortlessly compelling. Something of a whizz in the realm of surf-speckled, throwback indie-pop, Dolan has been drip-feeding tracks some stellar singles as of late, including ‘I Can Make You Hurt At Will‘ and ‘One Girl‘ earlier in the year, and most recently ‘Good Human Being?’ and ‘It Is Good That We Dream‘, which was released just this week. Comprising those four tracks and seven more, Dolan’s…

  • METZ – Strange Peace

    September 22, 2017 - By 

    The first two albums by Canadian trio Metz were loud, bludgeoning noise-rock records very much in the spirit of the band’s ear-splitting live shows. But as viscerally thrilling as both their self-titled debut and follow up II were, they weren’t the sort of albums a band can make a career out of repeating ad naseum, and on the latter there was already a sense of déjà vu creeping in before the end of its half hour duration. Third album Strange Peace then, feels like something of a make-or-break moment for the band’s continuing momentum. While a degree of progression might be…