• Album Stream: Duellists – Into The Fade

    May 24, 2019 - By 

    Comprising members of NI alt-rock royalty in Throat and Element, the music of Portadown/Larne trio Duellists is full-blown, riff-fuelled testament to the power of perseverance and pushing forward. Off the back of lead singles ‘Into the Fade’ and the recently-released ‘Perspective’, their long-awaited debut album, Into The Fade, makes for a breakneck, twelve-track statement of intent across 35 minutes. Recorded by Caolán Austin at Smalltown America Studios in Derry and mixed by Kurt Ballou (Converge) at Godcity Studios, it’s a release that firmly reveals the threesome to be at the peak of their collective powers. Duellists play Dundalk’s The Spirit Store on…

  • Watch: Sissy – Not In My Head

    May 27, 2019 - By 

    Dublin threesome Sissy know a thing or two about breakneck lo-fi punk. Take new single, ‘Not In My Head’. Racing out of the traps, almost bursting at the seams with pure-cut gusto, it’s a four-minute romp of stellar guitar shapes and feverish refrains. And what a video. Shot at Dalymount Park – the Phibsborough home of Bohemian F.C. – it captures Leigh, Michelle and Eoin well and truly in their element.

  • Premiere: Tomorrows – Nightshade

    May 22, 2019 - By 

    A self-proclaimed fuzzy account of a long night out in Dublin (hey, we’ve all been there) ‘Nightshade’ by Dublin quartet Tomorrows is a sorcerous five-minute effort that marries slick, woozy textures with an overarching air of wanderlust. Initial recordings for the track – which will feature on the band’s new album, The Night Chorus 1 – were made on an 8 track Tascam reel-to-reel machine, before being brought to Christian Best (O Emperor, Marlene Enright) who recorded the drums and mixed the track. Driving it all home is Irish artist Ursula Woods’ sublime video to accompany the single. Shot on an Autumn evening…

  • Oh Sees w/ The Dreads @ Limelight 1, Belfast

    May 22, 2019 - By 

    In the lead-up to their return to Belfast tonight, Oh Sees attracted many familiar (read: suitably towering) platitudes: the greatest live band on the planet; the best rock n’ roll band in existence; deliverers of the most thrilling show you’ll likely see this year. In almost any other instance, it would not only be wise but important to treat such high-flung flattery with a healthy dose of suspicion. But in this instance — and bearing in mind Motörhead are sadly no longer in rerum natura — the tall talk flirts with cold, hard, incontrovertible truth. Having supported them at the Black Box…

  • Premiere: Goodtime John – Beauty & Chaos

    May 20, 2019 - By 

    Also known as J. Cowhie and GOODTIME, Dublin experimental folk singer-songwriter Goodtime John has long had a remarkable knack for excavating the unspeakable pangs of what it means to exist, survive, forgive, suffer and let go. And though he could surely do it in a much showier manner, it’s in skeletal, largely unadorned compositions where his art and truth comes into sharp focus. On June 24th, he will release a new five-track record, Beauty & Chaos. Recorded completely analogue using only vintage hardware, guitar and drum machine by Emil Isaksson in Studio Möllan in Malmö, love, loss, home, struggle and “being present in today’s over-complicated world” are,…

  • Gary Numan Set For Dublin Show

    May 20, 2019 - By 

    Gary Numan will return to Dublin later this year. The pioneering synth-pop artist and genre-warping artist will play the Olympia Theatre on September 22nd. The show takes place as part of his (R)evolution 40th anniversary tour. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 8am, priced €34.65.

  • Premiere: M.Cambridge – My Sailor Boy

    May 17, 2019 - By 

    Branching out from his critically-acclaimed solo work as Arborist, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Mark McCambridge will release a new album as M.Cambridge next month. Released with help from Help Musicians NI on June 28th, Sea Songs: Anatomy of a Drowning Man is the result of McCambridge following his love of folk music out into the sea and onto the decks of 19th-century packet ships from Ireland, England, the USA and further afield. Traversing interpretations of sea shanties, weaver poems of Ulster and original material, the album was part-recorded in a Curfew Tower, owned by Bill Drummond, in the Co. Antrim town of…

  • Watch: Bouts – Passing Through

    May 17, 2019 - By 

    Not that you need reminding, but Dublin indie quartet Bouts released one of the Irish albums of the year (thus far) back in January. Released today, the fourth single to be taken from Flow is ‘Passing Through’ and what a timely, sun-drenched cut it is. Bounding with starry-eyed hooks, it’s a brisk but brilliant effort that faces down “the transience of life – friendship, music and attachment.” Move over ‘Get Lucky’ – this is the sound of the (Irish) summer. Check out Teresa Weikmann’s video for the single below.

  • Line-Up Announced for Another Love Story 2019

    May 16, 2019 - By 

    One of the country’s very best small summer festivals, Another Love Story will return to Killon Manor in Co. Meath across August 16-18. Today, organisers have revealed the full line-up for its sixth edition. Featuring Dowry, The Redneck Manifesto, AE Mak, Junior Brother, Szun Waves, Maria Somerville, Kobina, Christian Loffler and many more, it’s arguably their strongest and most electric bill to date. See it below. Go here to buy tickets to ALS 2019.

  • Breaking The Plane: An Interview with Oh Sees’ John Dwyer

    May 15, 2019 - By 

    Released last year, Smote Reverser delivered yet another curveballing and nuanced listen from San Francisco garage-psych trailblazers Oh Sees. From the face-searing ‘Overthrown’ to the protracted groove frenzy of ‘Anthemic Aggressor’, it underscored the John Dwyer-fronted band’s rep as arguably the most prolific and forward-pushing rock band around. On Monday (May 20) and Tuesday (May 21), the band makes their long-awaited return to play Belfast and Dublin. Ahead of that, Brian Coney caught up with Dwyer to talk sci-fi, motivation, keep it exciting twenty-one albums in, what “psych” means to him and more. Photo by Thomas Girard ___ Hi John.…