• The White Mansions – The Crossing

    Having had a busy summer month of touring festivals, The White Mansions have just released their debut album The Crossing, available from iTunes, Amazon & to stream on Spotify. The six-piece country & bluegrass act launch their album with a to-be-confirmed show at the Ulster American Folk Park and a Black Box gig alongside rockabilly quartet The Sabrejets at the Black Box for the Belfast American Folk & Roots Club on September 27. Check out a live performance of ‘3 Point Link‘ at the Black Box Green Room. Stream The Crossing on Spotify below:

  • Punk Rock @ The Lyric

    Punk Rock – a play written by Simon Stephens and directed by Selina Cartmell – comes to Belfast’s Lyric Theatre for a stint, from August 10 until September 6. Set amongst a clique of sixth formers during exam time in a library as they prepare for mock A levels, Punk Rock sees the typically dysfunctional group discuss their pre-university problems and struggles with personal identity. Writer Simon Stevens has been heralded as the most prolific British playwright of his generation, and the likes of The Independent and The Guardian have given the play positive reviews. You can check out the Lyric’s…

  • Stream: Weezer – Back To The Shack

    Having debuted the song on their cruise earlier in the year, Weezer have just made available the nostalgic ‘Back To The Shack’ to stream. It will be the lead single on their forthcoming tenth album – recorded with Ric Ocasek, who produced their first two, and most highly-regarded LPs – Everything Will Be Alright In The End, out on September 30.

  • Revival Belfast – Baptism of Fire

    Belfast has a new – if indeed any already exist – folk, punk, indie, rock & blues club in the form of Revival Belfast, taking place at McHugh’s Bar at Queen’s Square, starting from Friday, August 1. High-tops and sailor ink is not just permitted, it’s expected; so get down and party at their inaugural night. Admission is £3 and doors open at 10pm.

  • Salvation Presents: DIG!

    One of the all-time great music films ‘DIG!‘ is to be screened at The Menagerie on Friday July 18 by garage/psych/shoegaze/dream-pop-oriented showrunners Salvation. The film was the winner of Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and was written, directed & produced by Ondi Timonder – who won the same award for her phenomenal documentary film We Live In Public. Compiled from seven years of footage, it charters the relationships and careers of The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre and their frontmen – Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Anton Newcombe, respectively – and how their career paths diverged for commercial, artistic, creative, personality…

  • Film Night: Some Like It Hot

    The Walled Garden of Ward Park in Bangor – accessible via entrance opposite the park’s Aurora pool – plays host to a one-off screening of Some Like It Hot on Saturday, August 23 for the Open House Bangor Festival which takes place in the town for the entirety of the month. The 1959 Billy Wilder comedy classic, starring Marilyn Monroe and the phenomenal combination of Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon is at this point a timeless piece of pop culture history, having been listed by the American Film Institute as the country’s best comedy of all time. Tickets are available from the…

  • The Thin Air’s Massive Music Quiz @ Voodoo

    Friends, enemies and associates! On Thursday, July 3 we’ll be hosting a one-off and potentially very fun music quiz at Voodoo Belfast. There’ll be an array of lethal prizes on offer throughout the night, obligatory raffles, free giveaways and a couple of special appearances on the night.Please come down or Milky will be sad.Things kick off at 8pm, entry is £3 per person.

  • Jurassic 5 @ Vicar Street

    Excitement’s been building for this, the latter of two sell-out shows in Dublin’s Vicar Street as part of Jurassic 5’s reunion tour, ever since the six original members appeared onstage for the first time since 2006 at Coachella last year, featuring DJ Cut Chemist’s return to the fold after he left the group for the old chestnut of ‘musical differences’ in the months prior to the recording of their final album – the least true representation of the qualities that gave J5 their reputation in the first place – Feedback. As Cut Chemist and his foil, Nu-Mark, enter the eyeline, what’s…

  • Interview: Plane Crasher

    A Herefordshire sludgy garage punk quartet who know how to meld the rawest of genres – once accurately described as “a wild fusion of The Jesus Lizard, The Ramones and Shellac” – Plane Crasher play Belfast’s Warzone Centre on Saturday March 8. To date, they’ve released a triple single, a live session and an eponymous 12” EP, all available independently on Bandcamp. Stevie Lennox caught up with them ahead of their Irish tour to catch a few of their thoughts. When did you actually form, and why? Sometime early 2010. It started a few years before that, Edd asked Matt to join his…

  • Cordials – Cordials EP

    With the north coat really having carved a niche in recent years – to the extent that punk, post-hardcore and post-rock practically soundtrack the area – it’s refreshing to hear a band from the area who don’t feel obliged to be boxed in with the usual names. A trio from Coleraine & Portrush, Cordials in their self-titled EP tread paths not a million miles away from heartfelt classic power-pop/college rock bands in the vein of Teenage Fanclub and The Replacements. From the onset of opener ‘Metal Man’, the classic lo-fi overdriven chiming wall-of-sound has been implemented appropriately, allowing the EP…