• Guilty Optics – Colossal Velocity

    March 28, 2017 - By 

    Dublin-based riffy post-punk trio Guilty Optics release their long-awaited debut album, Colossal Velocity on March 31 on vinyl & digital download. Colossal Velocity was recorded at Dublin’s Hellfire Studios with vintage gear by San Diego producer Ben Moore, best known for his work with Hot Snakes, Rocket From The Crypt & Ravi Shankar, amongst many others. Tellingly, they’re a dischordant, aggressive burst of noise-rock tinged post-punk by way of the early-to-mid ’90s, à la Drive Like Jehu. Formed in 2008 by Alan Finnerty & Peter Lee as a duo, they played under the name Bend This, Uri Geller, before expanding their lineup and shifting to the band…

  • Tongue Bundle – Peppery Talk

    March 27, 2017 - By 

    Experimental Dublin jazz-punk outfit Tongue Bundle have released their second album, Peppery Talk through esoteric Irish label Unbend Leg Out. What started out as a rework of early EP Salty Language, ended up as the band’s latest album. Evolving their soulful jazz-funk, Zappa-esque work, they’ve delved further, this music a sample-heavy frenzy, reminiscent of The Books, Air and the dark, tripping urbanity of UK dub outlier Burial. This follows up on 2015 debut LP Bungee Untold. Stream Peppery Talk: Peppery Talk by Tongue Bundle

  • Percolator – Sestra

    March 23, 2017 - By 

    Krautrock/shoegaze-loving cosmic voyagers Percolator release their long-awaited debut album Sestra on Penske Recordings on April 14. Taking cues from My Bloody Valentine, Stereolab, with hints of progressive rock and the late ’80s indie label scene to boot. Their textures and atmospheres are well ahead of most contemporaries. The trio were formed in 2009 by former members of Dae Kim, with the current lineup existing since 2012 and comprising singer/guitarist Ian Chestnutt, drummer & singer Eleanor Myler & producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy on bass – founder of Guerrilla Studios in Dublin, where the album was recorded. They’ve put out a steady string of releases, available on Bandcamp. <a href=”http://percolator.bandcamp.com/album/sestra”>Sestra…

  • Stream: Paddy Hanna – Sunday Milkshake

    March 21, 2017 - By 

    Masterful Dublin songsmith Paddy Hanna has unveiled yet another song in the form of ‘Sunday Milkshake’, ahead of the release of new single ‘Bad Boys’ on March 24. Featuring hints of a motorik beat, filled out with a lush orchestral arrangement, Hanna has once again put his genre-tapping to full use in proving why he’s one of the finest, most artful pop songwriters in Ireland – if his string of singles from mid-2015 following 2014 debut album Leafy Stiletto didn’t already do it – check them out on Soundcloud. On its themes, Hanna states that Sunday Milkshake is “a tale of realisation, of sleeping on a…

  • Premiere: Slouch – whiteboyfilingcabinetfaxmachinestapler

    March 10, 2017 - By 

    Following up on their Feminine Elbows EP from last year, the pop culture-savvy scuzzy alt. rock trio Slouch channel some Office Space-era jobsworth apathy on their latest release, the two-track whiteboyfilingcabinetfaxmachinestapler. The first of five singles to be released over the coming months by the industrious triad of South Dublin fellas, they know too well the meaning of the suburban minutia and drudgery rhymed off on its constituent parts, whiteboyfilingcabinetfaxmachinestapler & whiteboycoffeemachinebaker. Building on their traditionally QOTSA & Pixies-esque desert & alt-rock leanings, the band have upped their dosage of indie & garage rock energy – à la self-titled-era Blur & Ty Segall – and laced it with even…

  • The Sad & Beautiful World of Sparklehorse at The MAC

    February 13, 2017 - By 

    On April 8 we will co-host a special, two-part event The MAC as part of Belfast Film Festival celebrating the life and music of the sadly-missed Mark Linkous, aka Sparklehorse. Following a screening of Alex Crowton and Bobby Dass’ new documentary ‘The Sad & Beautiful World of Sparklehorse’, the evening will also feature a Q+A with the filmmakers, as well as a live, one-hour performance, ‘A Night of Sparklehorse’ with Belfast-based singer-songwriters Tom McShane, The Mad Dalton, Heliopause, Pixie Saytar and more. Tickets are available from The MAC, priced at £10.50 & £12.50. Things kick off at 8pm.

  • Pre-Tour Preamble: Vasa & Body Hound

    February 7, 2017 - By 

    Given our island’s reputation, in what now seems to be acknowledged as ‘the days of yore’, for independently successful rock bands of math and post-prefixed inclinations, it makes sense that mainland acts would flex their considerable muscles on our shores. Our so-called ‘island tax’ often extends to a limitation on shows from any less than stadium-ready musical artists and their ilk, but there’s a growing number of thoughtful and decent promoters out there working in synchronicity – many of whom we hope to feature in coming months – with the likes of Belfast’s Solid Choice Industries, Galway’s FEAST, Dublin’s Venture Presents joining forces, uniting the corners of…

  • Joshua Burnside – Ephrata

    February 2, 2017 - By 

    Experimental singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside has announced the release of his debut album after a few years of silence. Ephrata is due to come out on May 5 through Quiet Arch Records – home also of Ciaran Lavery, Ryan Vail & Tucan – and was written allegedly during a creative spurt in Colombia. His only prior EP, If You’re Goin’ That Way was released in 2013. Despite Burnside playing most instruments on the album, it features a variety of recognisable local collaborators and producers throughout. Stream first single, ‘Tunnels Pt. 2’: Joshua Burnside launches Ephrata at the Duke of York on Sunday, April 30, with support from Alana…

  • Droids – Vessels EP

    February 2, 2017 - By 

    After a break of several years, Derry riffers Droids release their new EP, Vessels, on March 27. Recorded at Smalltown America Studios over the last few years, it’s a long time coming after their excellent, raw eponymous debut EP in 2012. Stream the first track to be unveiled from the EP, ‘Burn Down’: Vessels by Droids

  • Wild Rocket – Dissociation Mechanics

    February 2, 2017 - By 

    Eclectic Dublin psychedelic groove-laden space rock outfit Wild Rocket have announced their second album is called Dissociation Mechanics. The five-track album will be released through Irish DIY record label & distro Art For Blind. In the meantime, check out their 2014 debut album, Geomagnetic Hallucinations: Geomagnetic Hallucinations by WILD ROCKET