• No Monster Club – People Are Weird

    February 10, 2015 - By 

    No Monster Club is a cacophonous creature that can’t be categorized. Styled by Dublin’s own Bobby Aherne, this musical act is a creation born of many genres, many trials, many errors, and many years in production, with latest release People Are Weird proving no exception to this theme. In fact, this eighth album represents a lot of Aherne’s transformation as an artist these past eight years. Dipping his hands and his listeners’ ears into various pots of sound across the set, Aherne flees from being pinned to one classification, weaving an opus which draws on the influence of past artists…

  • Belle and Sebastian – Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance

    January 21, 2015 - By 

    Nineteen years and nine albums later, Belle and Sebastian still prove to be a true testament of youth. Nearly two decades after the release of their debut album Tiger Milk, ninth studio album Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance finds a sound that carries the torch of their primordial folk roots while embracing the changing tastes of an alt-oriented audience. Distributed by Matador Records, the album marks the band’s first release with the US indie label and the first with Atlanta-based producer Ben H. Allen III. Given this tenuous moment in the Glasgow group’s prolific career, the change in direction reads a…

  • The Walworth Farce @ Olympia, Dublin

    January 15, 2015 - By 

    ‘It’s me.’ Delivered amid a melee of frazzled movement and chanting, these are the only two words spoken in the first ten minutes of Enda Walsh’s The Walworth Farce.  As the script is built upon a play within a play in which the Gleeson men cover nine roles, this clever opening could not be more smug for a show that lives in a universe of rapidly changing identities. Set in the dingy London flat of Corkian patriarch Dinny (Brendan) and sons Blake (Domhnall) and Sean (Brian), the show begins as the neurotic trio hastily set the stage of their decrepit…

  • Interview: Sleep Thieves

    January 13, 2015 - By 

    Dublin electro-pop threesome Sleep Thieves have steadily spent establishing their reputation as one of the country’s most alluring and exciting acts. With the moody, hypnotic “disco-noir” of their Minty Fresh-released debut album You Want The Night winning an ever-expanding transatlantic fanbase, Sorcha Brennan, Wayne Fahy and Keith Byrne look set to soundtrack many more nocturnal rambles of the soul in 2015 and beyond. Ahead of their free show at Belfast’s new-fangled Woodworkers this Saturday night, Joe Madsen talks to Sleep Thieves about their colourful journey so far. Your LP You Want the Night marks your debut full-length album with US record label Minty…

  • 15 For ’15: Boyfights

    January 8, 2015 - By 

    Set to feature in physical form in our forthcoming January magazine, we continue 15 for ’15, a feature looking at fifteen Irish acts we’re absolutely convinced are going places in 2015. Over the first two weeks of January, we’ll be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph by our wonderful team of photographers. Next up: Galway quartet Boyfights. Photo by Sean McCormack. A year and a half of live performance under their belt, Galwegian quartet Boyfights look poised to expand their loyal western fanbase. Two summers ago, the band gained traction in various battles of bands across Galway City…

  • Little Hours w/ Bairbre Anne @ The Sugar Club, Dublin

    December 1, 2014 - By 

    Serving up a sumptous set of folk-pop sound, the up-and-coming Little Hours delighted Dublin’s Sugar Club with their first headlining gig and eponymous EP launch on Thursday evening. The Donegal duo dazzled the house with a fresh array of work that’s garnered them a worthy following since the release of their first single ‘It’s Still Love’ in June, including a respectable line-up of support acts to play their momentous evening as well. The show was a night of new artists who toil, and an impressive one, at that. Kicking off the evening’s line-up was Dublin’s own Bairbre Anne, promoting new…

  • Inbound: Little Hours

    November 26, 2014 - By 

    With their first headlining gig and EP launch to take place this Thursday (November 27) at Dublin’s Sugar Club, Joe Madsen chats with folk duo Ryan McCloskey and John Doherty AKA Little Hours about the rollercoaster ride of a year they’ve been having since their formation back in February. Photos by Isabel Thomas. How long have you guys known each other and how long have you been playing together? Ryan: “For about five or six years.  We’ve played with a lot of different cover bands over the past few years, but the original thing came into formation at the start of this…

  • Black Stone Cherry w/ Theory of a Dead Man @ The Academy, Dublin

    October 28, 2014 - By 

    Who said Ireland wouldn’t welcome the sound of American southern rock this side of the seas?  Hosting a roaring avalanche of sound from the Kentucky boys of Black Stone Cherry, Dublin’s Academy exploded with an onslaught of American heavy metal Thursday evening, continuing record-label Roadrunner’s long tradition of importing this genre of American rock into European audiences. Fresh off a tour warming up for Lynard Skynard, Black Stone Cherry’s electrifying performance proved yet again that they too are a headlining bastion of hard rock. Roused by a titillating set from Canadian rock group Theory of a Dead Man, the sold-out…