Featuring members of Wolfbait, Woven Skull, Wild Rocket and other local noiseniks, Worst have just released their debut EP, MMXVII. The five piece are a cauldron into which pours the intuitive esoterica of krautrock, psychedelia, noise and punk. The EP was recorded in the North Strand Centre in late 2016 and mixed by Scan. Limited numbers of cassettes are available from English DIY indie label Riot Season and Swap Meat Records. MMXVII by Worst
After 16 years, there’s no doubt that Primavera is Europe’s premier festival, for everyone from the capped-up indie kids to right-on middle-agers seeking some escapism, from the techno heads on through to High Fidelity type nerf herders and vinyl hoarders. So: how does Europe’s best music festival follow up on a last year’s best-ever edition – a mammoth lineup topped by Radiohead. Well, partially through sticking with what works – every sub-genre well catered for and then some, and not just on the three main days at Parc del Forum, but in venues across the city in the preceding weeks.…
Lushly arranged Irish eight-piece Sun Collective release their debut album, Snarky Puppy-style, with a show at on Saturday June 10. Led by songwriter & composer Caimin Gilmore – who plays as the double-bassist with Lisa Hannigan – they’re comprised of classical and jazz musicians from some of Ireland’s leading groups, including Crash Ensemble. Written by Gilmore and Shane Sugrue and crafted over four years at studios in London (SARM West, of Island Records & Miloca Studios), Dublin (Steve Shannon, The Hive) and Australia. The ensemble features string trio, two pianos, three high male voices, double bass & percussion, filtered through the lens…
Never ones to sit on an idea for too long, pragmatic, scuzzy South Dubliners Slouch have followed up previous double A-side their whiteboyfilingcabinetfaxmachinestapler release from March with another, titled It’s Not a Man Abandons Post. A lethargically-paced brace that reaffirms what we learned from its predecessor – that you’d never get a hard day’s work out of the lads – It’s Not a Man… sees Slouch really lean into their name on this one, conjuring more slack indie rock by way of Weezer and the Seattle sound this time around, the Loctite rhythm section proving more than adequate foil for Conor Wilson’s Xanax’d-out vocal. The release is the…
After several years of transience and venue shifting, Dublin B-movie night Slum Cinema has found a new home at MVP on Clanbrassil Street, and kick starts its residency at the start of next month with the greatest martial arts movie of them all, Bruce Lee’s final performance, 1973’s Enter The Dragon. Started in 2012, Slum Cinema is the passion project of Canadian Anna Davies, but it’s ripe to be elevated to cult classic status if its new stint at MVP goes as well as it deserves. As described by its founder, Slum Cinema is an exploitation/vintage/trash/cult cinema club. Its previous…
Belfast singer-songwriter Chris Leckey, aka Via: Barvikha releases debut EP, Chengdu, on June 16. The EP was written around a period of significant life change, as Leckey was uprooted to a new home 5329 miles away – the titular Chengdu – before coming back five months later. Channelling a brooding intensity never articulated as dynamically with his past hardcore outfit PigsAsPeople, Leckey has found a waypoint via common denominator Brand New to the darkly raw places of yearning, conjured by of Jason Molina and other quintessentially authentic Steve Albini-produced folk. Following up on a short string of singles from 2015, Chengdu is released through Belfast indie label Abbreviated Records on June 16. It was recorded & produced by the titular…
After a long wait seemingly nodded at by its title, Thunderous Silence, the debut album from Belfast progressive alternative rock trio Matua Trap is out today. The band formed in September 2013 from the ashes of Belfast post-rockers Kasper Rosa and experimental psych-poppers EatenByBears. Their sound undulates somewhere between upbeat vibes of 90’s and 00’s alt rock/pop outfits and the razor sharp riffage and mountaintop vocal hooks of ‘nu’ and progressive metal, maintaining a strong sense of song craft; owed in part to a constant influence from esoteric pop legends such as Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. Taking a sharper turn from the post-rock format indulged…
Insofar as first-rate lo-fi indie rock goes, the island of Ireland is surely right up there with the most fertile.Laying claim to their stake amongst the very best, Dublin’s Silverbacks release a new EP, the five-track Sink The Fat Moon on May 19. If new single ‘Dirty Money’ is anything to by, we’re in for something well worth the wait. A terse, harmonic-laden effort that openly yet rather brilliantly filters the more more reclined efforts of the holy trifecta that is Sonic Youth, Pavement and Pixies, it’s a masterfully languid release betraying real purpose in its disaffected swagger. This follows up on their…
Ahead of its release on May 4, we’re delighted to premiere the new EP from Belfast-based emo-tinged indie rock trio Fox Colony, Patterns. Associates & former bandmates of indie-pop outfit Brand New Friend, the young band recorded Patterns with Start Together Studios’ Rocky O’Reilly and have the uncanny ability to craft a tune without the usual fear of wearing their hearts – or accents – on their sleeves. The EP takes some cues from the current emo-pop revival of Modern Baseball, with slight glimmers of early ’90s alt. rock sophistication & dischordance seeping in that belies their youth. Patterns will be available from Bandcamp – both digitally on…
Having spent the last few years establishing themselves around Belfast originally as a trio before expanding to become a quartet, the heft-laden hardcore act Hornets finally release their debut album, Witch Hunt on May 19. Witch Hunt will be the first release on newly established promotion & record label Solid Choice Industries – who have in just the last 2 months, brought Belfast rare shows from the likes of Russian Circles and Grails. Hornets’ latest release hugely broadens their scope and dynamic, taking blast-beat-led detours through visceral crust punk & cacophonic, harshly atmospheric black metal, without losing their trademark moments of Mastodon-esque gargantuan proportion.…