Two years on from their last headline show in the same venue, post-hardcore heroes At The Drive-In will return to play Dublin’s Vicar Street on July 10. The Cedric Bixler-fronted band – who released their fourth album album In•ter a•li•a last year – formed in El Paso in Texas in 1994. Tickets for Vicar Street show are priced at €47 and on sale at 9am on Friday.
Belfast three-piece Gnarkats recently teamed up with Paul Mahon of the Answer to record a new track, ‘Enigma’. Released this week, the single is a starry-eyed burst of gazey alt-indie with a lyrical undercurrent of feeling isolated in toxic relationships. Speaking of the recording said, “Paul was amazing to work with, he loved the songs and we all got on really well. He put so much effort in to our music, had great suggestions and got the best performances out of us. We are very proud of the two tracks we worked on with him and it was truly a dream come true for [guitarist] Jordan…
Set for release on April 7 to coincide with Pop Up’s 3 bands, 3 Cities, 3 Singles tour in Derry, ‘If…’ by Belfast-based, Andrew Cameron-fronted Brash Isaac is a delicately-woven yet impassioned single confronting ambivalence and self-realisation. Recorded at SubZero Studios with Michael McCluskey, Cameron said of the track: It’s a slight departure to what we’ve done before and doesn’t rely heavily on a lot of instrumentation or production. We’ve stripped it back to the sound of a four piece band playing their parts together in a room, and we feel that’s how this track works best It’s a song that tackles feelings of dread and anxiety, addressing the…
A new-fangled Dublin comprising ex-members of Ghost Estates, The Things, The Mighty Stef and The North Sea, MELTS are bassist Colm Giles, drummer Gary Earle, vocalist Eoin Kenny, guitarist Hugh O’Reily and Robbie Brady on organ, synth and theremin. Having recently announced that they’re set to appear at this year’s Castlepalooza, the five-piece have unveiled their debut single, ‘Skyward’. A Motorik-driven burst of nuanced, interlocking psych worship, the track was recorded at the Meadow in Co. Wicklow with Irish Duo the Deaf Brothers, who have worked with the likes of Mmoths, Cloud Castle Lake and Come On Live Long in the past. MELTS will release ‘Skyward’…
Following a string of well-received releases via Trout Records since forming back in 2009, Dublin band Spies disappeared off the face of the earth back in 2016. Or so it seemed. Frontman Michael Broderick explains: “We felt in order to write something we were really proud of, we needed to distance ourselves from the outside pressures of being in a band. It’s easy to get distracted by all the things you think you should be doing and overlook that your primary objective should be to write great music”. Having re-emerged today with the inspired ‘Young Dad’ — arguably the five-piece’s strongest single effort to…
Having zig-zagged around Europe over the last few weeks, Cork’s finest The Altered Hours will play three highly-anticipated shows in Dublin, Letterkenny and Belfast this weekend. Ahead of those, the five-piece have unveiled Breda Lynch’s visuals for new single ‘On My Tongue’, an incandescent peak from their excellent new EP, Over The Void. Striking yet another killer midpoint between garage, noise and mottled psych manoeuvres, the track is a rousing, nigh on lustful ode to cutting totally fucking loose. Those shows: Thursday, March 29: The Grand Social, Dublin Friday, March 30: Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny Saturday, March 31: The Menagerie, Belfast
One half of Choice Prize-winning Dublin duo Ships, Simon Cullen has made sublime electronic sounds under the Lasertom moniker for a number of years now. Having focused on the former project from the last couple of years, Cullen is back in solo mode via Super Saor, a brand new three-track EP, produced written and recorded this year. With all three tracks clocking in over 7 minutes ago, it’s a deceptively expansive, synth-drenched, earworm-heavy release brilliantly blurring the lines between electro, house and nu-disco. Featuring artwork by John Rooney, have a first listen to the EP in full below. Super Saor by Lasertom
On Saturday, April 21, Dublin’s The Grand Social will play host to Rebellious Jukebox YEAH! – A Celebration of The Fall. Set to take place almost three months on from the passing of the late, great Mark E Smith, the event will feature live music from the likes of The 202s, Afterwardness, Niall Colfer, Dez Foley, Oranges, Richer Than Astronauts, Soft on Crime, Twinkranes and more to be announced, as well as video, spoken word/poetry and DJs. This has essential attendance written all over it. Tickets are priced €10 and are on sale now.
Billed as a unique music culture event, VINYL is a brand new, three-day event set to be held on the May Bank Holiday weekend at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin. A self-proclaimed salute to all things vinyl, it will present “an immersive theatre of the mind comprising musicians, producers, designers and filmmakers specially convened to celebrate the rich history and enduring legacy of vinyl, its landmark recordings and key personnel, the groundbreaking labels and studios that fostered such talent, with contributions and insights from some of its most perceptive champions.” Revolved around specially-programmed talks, panel discussions, curated collections, music performances,…
Having released ‘Middle America’ – their first single in four years – last month, it’s been announced that Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will play Dublin’s Vicar Street on October 19. Tickets go on sale this Wednesday at 9am. SMATJ will release their new album, Sparkle Hard, on May 18 via Domino Records. Check out the artwork and brand new single, ‘Shiggy’, below.