• Video Premiere: Eraser TV – NYP

    February 12, 2018 - By 

    One of the finest to sprout from Limerick’s DIY scene, Eraser TV have some lo-fi scuzz for you this lazy Sunday, in the form of ‘NYP’. It’s the first single from the as-yet-untitled follow-up to their 2017 debut EP Buzzfeed Depression Quiz. Sonically, it’s a direct descendent of idiosyncratic 90s guitar rock a la Dinosaur Jr melded with the anxious excitement of the Dismemberment Plan; add that to its modern indie-punk & emo tint and you’re left with a sound that could’ve fallen off the shelves of the Exploding In Sound catalogue. Where the wartime paranoia video for experimental previous epic ‘Golden Boy‘ was steeped in deeply affecting, this kitschy Eurodance throwback visual accompaniment…

  • Video Premiere: Any Joy – Avert Your Eyes

    February 13, 2018 - By 

    Photo by Silvio Severino Propelled by paranoid immediacy, we’re pleased to unveil the visual feast that is the video for ‘Avert Your Eyes’ by Cork psych-tinged post-punk outfit Any Joy. When it comes to psychedelia, lyrical content commonly takes a vague supporting role, but as we said in our 18 For ’18 piece, it’s the throughline that ties the band’s concise, yet sprawling 2017 debut LP, Cycles together, as well as delineating them from many of their genre contemporaries. Created by New York-based commercial director, animator & collagist Mac Premo, the video is an attention span-grabbing visual overload that could as easily double as psychedelic propaganda masquerading as a Visit Modern Ireland tourist board ad. Borrowing as…

  • Katie Kim & Radie Peat set to collaborate for A Night of Musical Stories

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    In association with MusicTown, two of Ireland’s finest contemporary artistic voices bring a one-off, collaborative show at Dublin’s Pepper Canister Church on April 14. Amongst a handful of folk-rooted artists in recent years to demarcate themselves from the rest of the pack, drone-folk songwriter Katie Kim – listen to her fourth album Salt – and multi-instrumentalist vocalist Radie Peat – also known for her groundbreaking approach to folk with Lankum & Rue – are right at the top. This all-ages concert encompasses murder ballads, folklore, traditional and contemporary musical arrangements, performing music both self-penned, and from past traditions to bing together themes of the human condition. “Darkness through light, misadventure and…

  • Video Premiere: Blue Americans – Apparition

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    Leftfield pop duo Blue Americans have just lifted the cloche on the video for ‘Apparition’, their fourth single in five months, and it’s once more a pristine, self-produced slice of vibing, somnambulant pop that begs to be listened to in a warmly-lit bedroom, well into the early AM. As with the singles that have preceded it, we’ve also found much allure in the genuinely leftfield, exploratory B-side, with Danny Ball production transforming Platt’s vocal on ‘Beetroot (What If I Was 1?)’ into very real moment of yearning. It’s out now on their own label, Oil Tape Records, ahead of the release of their debut album later this year. They’ve nailed it on…

  • Interview & Label Mixtape: Exploding In Sound Records

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    Formed in 2011, and based in New York City, Exploding In Sound Records is a tapestry of idiosyncrasy. Pile, for example, are regularly cited as the world’s greatest rock band. Big Ups’ Before A Million Universes was very possibly 2016’s finest noise rock record. The bubbling, emotional cacophony of Ovlov’s 2013 Am has developed its own posthumous devoted cult following, leading to the band reuniting for a second album; not to mention the label’s ability to function as an early outlet and jumping point for Speedy Ortiz, Porches, LVL UP and Palehound. It’s a community. Bands share members, shows and tours together, and there’s a very genuine…

  • Ciaran Lavery – Sweet Decay

    January 30, 2018 - By 

    From inauspicious beginnings in Aghagallon, one of Northern Ireland’s most talented and celebrated songwriters, Ciaran Lavery, has announced details of third album. Launched in Belfast’s Empire Music Hall on the same day, Sweet Decay is released on April 13, following on from his 2016 NI Music Prize-winning LP, Let Bad In. Totting up well over 80 million streams on Spotify, he’s one of our most poetically-gifted singer-songwriters, not to mention one of the most wilfully eclectic. As well as scattering soul, hip-hop or R&B on top of what was once a bread & butter strain of heartfelt, earnest indie-folk & chamber-pop, his short collaborative album with electronic producer Ryan Vail won high…

  • Tuath – Youth

    January 29, 2018 - By 

    We’ve called them, among other things, the North’s foremost purveyors of hepped-up-on-goofballs psychedelia, but the Letterkenny outfit Tuath release their latest EP, Youth on February 24. Primarily recorded & produced by the band mastermind Robert Mulhern, it follows almost a year on from Things I Don’t Know. Featuring a string of steadily-released singles they’ve been fastidiously putting out over the last 6 months accompanied by videos, they’re peering out gingerly from their their darkened corner of ‘gaze-hued trip-hop for dalliances with post-punk and indie rock, without losing that claustrophobic, nihilistic sound that puts them in a category of just one on the island. Check out their previous material on Bandcamp. Watch the…

  • 18 for ’18: Destriers

    January 29, 2018 - By 

    We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, progressive hardcore quartet Destriers. Photo by Colum O’Dwyer As a hardcore fan, you often find yourself fighting genre jadedness. By its nature, every latest trend can seem yet another vessel that fits the sonic requirements but lacks dynamism or the genuine sense of vocal or compositional conviction that the foundations of punk are built upon.…

  • Public Image Ltd set to make first live appearance in Northern Ireland

    January 25, 2018 - By 

    In an astonishing coup, John Lydon’s groundbreaking avant-garde post-punk outfit Public Image Ltd make their first ever appearance in Northern Ireland, playing as part of this year’s Open House Festival in Bangor, in collaboration with the BBA Punk Weekender. PiL are set to play Bangor Seafront on Saturday, August 25. Founded by the then Johnny Rotten in 1978 as an experimental antidote to the pop establishment furure surrounding the Sex Pistols, a dub-heavy sound on debut First Issue drew – through its punk tint – noise and progressive rock by way of Jah Wobble’s dense low end. With Metal Box and subsequent releases pushed their music further into the avant-garde,…

  • It Takes A Village makes Second Lineup Announcement

    January 24, 2018 - By 

    Unique in its setting of the Trabolgan Holiday Village in Cork to offset the unpredicatable Spring weather, It Takes a Village festival runs from April 13-15, and has announced its latest set of bill updates. The Good Room-curated festival offers an ATP-esque alternative in the form of 150 self-catering houses and apartments, as well as 35 fully-serviced campervan sites, not to mention the host of nostalgia-invoking activities Trabolgan has to offer. Today’s line up update includes The Gloaming frontman Martin Hayes, alongside one of Ireland’s most respected traditional guitarists Steve Cooney. One of the Irish voices of his generation, Blindboy Boatclub brings his podcast live on Sunday. Landless…