To mark the release of their new single ‘Asha’s Waltz’ today, Cork-based quartet Pebbledash select the records that inspired them from Leonard Cohen to Horsegirl. Photos by Erin Plaice
Leonard Cohen – Death of a Ladies’ Man
Fionnbharr: As much as we all enjoy the bit of noise, there’s a deep vein of appreciation for the lyricism of artists like Leonard Cohen or Jackson C. Frank amongst all of us in Pebbledash. This is Cohen at his most maximal and, for what the man is known for, perhaps his most unconventional – rarely do we hear him howl how he does through the tumult of a song like ‘Memories’. This record is a favourite of Asha’s and Cormac’s in particular, a reminder both of the grace and deftness of Cohen as a writer, and of how effective it can be to loosen one’s inhibitions as a songwriter and producer. Phil Spector, though, a right dodgy feen altogether.
The Velvet Underground – Loaded
Fionnbharr: The Velvet Underground leave their mark on just about any vaguely alternative-leaning band, and we’re no exception. Loaded is of course the Velvet Underground at their most commercial, with a lot of exercises in genre of varying success but the gems are still there, and gems they absolutely are; we’ve ended up playing ‘I Found a Reason’ in the practice room more times than any of us can recall; the lyrics, the delicate harmonies, Lou Reed’s nasal yearning whine – a perfect tune. Fine, fine music indeed.
The Brian Jonestown – MassacreMethodrone
Fionnbharr: Every time I listen to this album I find it very hard to fault, the alluring mix of drones and feedback wormed its way into my brain and I don’t think it’ll ever leave. The first time hearing the reversed effect at the beginning of the opening track ‘Evergreen’ had a lasting impact on me, during covid I used to listen to this album back to front when I’d be running around the lakes at home, which has probably led to an embarrassing amount of completed listens but its just one of those albums where you’d fall into a trance in which you wouldn’t leave until the final note faded out.
Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance
Fionnbharr: The first time I heard Horsegirl blew me away, it was just on a KEXP performance on YouTube and since then I’ve loved everything about this band. This album, in particular the interludes like ‘Bog Bog 2’ and ‘Electrolocation’ are so well crafted, effortlessly cool and full of personality. I would challenge anyone to write a song that’s as good as ‘Beautiful Song’, I must admit sometimes I even get a little jealous, but this just may be due to the fact that I get the mick taken out of me by the guys in the band for it being my third time in a chosen day mentioning Horsegirl.
John Martyn – Solid Air
Fionnbharr: I’m always in awe of John Martyn and how he always feels like he was ahead of his time. It is so easy to be seduced by the warmth of his voice and having a big soft spot for alternate tunings means I get loads of mileage out of listening to his work. I bought this album as a present for someone but liked it too much to actually give it to them, so here it remains so I can listen to ‘Over The Hill’ anytime I’m too far from the sea but need to experience what that first swim of summer feels like. Although not on the album, if you watch his performance of ‘You Can Discover’ live on the Old Grey Whistle Text on YouTube you’ll see his genius that’s littered through this album also.
The Altered Hours – In Heat Not Sorry
Cormac: A battering ram of an album from the title downward. The Altered Hours should be the biggest guitar band to come out of Ireland in decades, they are stalwarts of the Cork scene amongst my earliest gateways to local music, and who were downright life-changing the first time I saw them perform. Their early EPs, which you should check out on Bandcamp, are wonderful, but the band went to Berlin and drew it all into something amazing: Nick Cave/Stereolab/Spacemen-3 rolled into one. ‘Who’s Saving Who’ into ‘Way of Sorrow’ is one of the finest one-two punches of noise-drenched garage rock you’ll hear. I’m a sucker for a good interlude, and the gnashing-teeth guitar that constitutes ‘Rotting’, like the band baring its teeth one last time before settling into what the meat of this album is; a lumbering, droning beast of psychedelic rock and roll. When ‘Saviours’ all pulls away into a howl of feedback just after 3:00 is like looking into the sun. Love it.
Sarah Davachi – Antiphonals
Cormac: Something by Sarah Davachi had to make it on; Let Night Come on Bells End the Day (2018) is another contender. I picked this album up shortly after it came out in Plugd here in Cork (sound Jim). ‘Ambient’ music (one supposes), music that forefronts texture and timbre and semi-conscious sensation/emotion, is my great love and one that informs everything I do instrumentally with Pebbledash. A track like ‘Chorus Scene’ shows the breadth of Davachi’s work and interests as a musicologist in its Renaissance-esque temperament. But it’s the drones I’m here for. People compare Sarah Davachi to Éliane Radigue and rightly. I’ve fallen asleep to the subconscious hum of ‘Magdalena’, and the album’s sprawling lynchpin ‘Border of Mind’ is an exhalation that’s filled me with serenity and dread depending on the day, but always does something serious to me. ‘Abeyant’ is what I’d imagine it sounds and feels like to fall into a piano. This album takes me places and hasn’t stopped.
NEU! – NEU! 2
Cormac: At its zenith, ‘Für Immer’ is every bit the genre-defining odyssey of mood and motion that an ‘Autobahn’ or ‘Hallogallo’ is. This album touches upon the same heights of perfect simplicity that NEU! (1972) does. It’s music that makes me want to make music, which is about the highest praise on an emotional level I think an artist can offer. Side 1 is refined, straight-ahead brilliance, a massive inspiration for what I do on guitar and synth. But what I adore about NEU! 2 is that it’s downright fucking weird. The band fell short of cash for studio time for the second side and essentially pre-empted the remix. The tracks on this side, solely resulting from endless tape-mangling rearrangements of the single, are serious/unserious genius, unexpected textures flying Pierre Schaeffer-esque all around. Inspiring in every way.
CONDOR44 – db
Schuch: An album I’ve been listening to a lot lately, I really like the drumming and production. I don’t listen to a whole lot of shoegaze and it’s rare for me to make it through an entire album in the genre but especially to return to it multiple times. I enjoy that every track is different, yet impressively, the album still flows cohesively. I found this album and the next one through clicking on random YouTube album rips until I found something interesting. My YouTube recommendations get very bizarre sometimes
Antônio Carlos Jobim – Stone Flower
Schuch: One of my all time favourite albums of all time, relaxing and compositionally very interesting to me. I can easily space out listening to it and even with a more engaged approach I’m never bored by it. I almost exclusively listen to this album in its entirety and always lament once it finishes. I haven’t been influenced much by either of these in my drumming, at least not consciously.
Catch Pebbledash on tour across the country this Summer. Click here for more information
