• Silverbacks – Easy Being a Winner

    September 30, 2024 - By 

    Ireland’s music scene has been flourishing recently, producing a wealth of exceptional talent like Orla Gartland, Post-Punk Podge, Lankum, Junior Brother, and Junk Drawer. While some acts bask in international acclaim, others, like Silverbacks, remain criminally underappreciated despite being equally, if not more, deserving. Known for their relentless output, Silverbacks have released almost an album a year for the past four years, each one a vibrant mix of fuzzy indie rock that’s as captivating as it is fun. Their latest, Easy Being a Winner, is no exception. Despite the band members now being scattered across different parts of Ireland and…

  • M. Stevens & The Ghasts – Birds

    December 6, 2022 - By 

    David Berman died by suicide on August 7, 2019. He left behind loved ones, countless fans and a lyrical back catalog of unrivaled wit, bite and passion. He was the sort of figure who was impossible to merely “like”; You either loved him or hadn’t heard him. Naturally in the aftermath of this tragedy, a tribute night was held in Dublin for folks to celebrate those syllables and melodies one more time. One such performer that night was Popical Island co-founder Mr. Mike Stevens. Following that night, M. Stevens, Hugh McCabe, Mark Jordan, as well as Ciaran Canavan and drummer…

  • clipping. – Visions of Bodies Being Burned

    October 26, 2020 - By 

    If your only knowledge of Daveed Diggs is his roles in Hamilton, Black-ish and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, then you’re in for a shock. A bit like finding that Neil Buchanan from Art Attack was the lead guitarist in a NWOBHM band, Diggs’ work with clipping. is a firehose of cold water. The trio, composed of Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes, have been putting out their brand of experimental hip-hop for the better part of a decade now. Since their debut mixtape in 2013, they’ve existed in that same space as Death Grips and JPEGMAFIA, embracing harsher industrial sounds, wrapped up in…

  • Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death

    August 26, 2020 - By 

    Veteran YouTuber and renowned online personality Tom Scott has an interesting point about the double-edged sword of Internet virality. He posits that if you want to be a successful content creator, then a viral smash hit at an early point in your journey can derail you just as you’re leaving the station. His argument fundamentally rests on the belief that most artists and creators don’t have a clear enough idea of who they are, or what exactly it is they want to say, at that early stage. It’s better, he believes, to spend time honing your craft and developing a distinct identity, rather…

  • Evenings & Weekends – Your Guitar

    August 4, 2020 - By 

    Earlier this year, those lovely people over at Evenings & Weekends, the label run by Dublin’s Loud Mouth Collective, decided give us all a gift, Your Guitar. This 12-track compilation was gifted to the world just before lockdown began and was a perfect companion piece to those long, lonely days. The label, which chiefly trades in downtempo and electronic music, found the opportune moment to deliver their latest broadcast right as we divorced ourselves from the outside world. The brooding, yet warm-hearted, sounds granted us space and much-needed solace in that period isolation, and we suspect it will continue to do…

  • Bing & Ruth – Species

    July 27, 2020 - By 

    It is that time of the year, when the sun beams with underestimated intensity and humidity creeps upward, smearing the world with a thin veneer of moisture. Everything keeps ratcheting up, it gets harder to think, harder to focus, harder to breathe almost. Cognitive space is required, something to give your brain enough room to remain active and alert but not so much as it gets overwhelmed in this delicate atmosphere. What you need is some sweet, laid back Vibey Synth Shit, or VSS. It’s an umbrella term. It encompasses a vast array of sub-genres and ideologies from film soundtracks,…

  • Shrug Life – Maybe You’re The Punchline

    April 28, 2020 - By 

    It’s strange how an unprecedented large scale pandemic can lend some records a greater level of significance. Obviously when Shrug Life were recording their second album, Maybe You’re The Punchline, they could not have foreseen that the entire global economy would have stopped and we’d all be trapped in our houses facing existential threats in the form of an invisible killer. We’ve left with an ever increasing uncertainty about what the hell happens next. Society is essentially being rebooted and there’s no telling what shape things might come back in. Then there are Danny Carroll’s words, these twitchy anxiety riddled tomes…

  • 10 for ’20: Mob Wife

    March 11, 2020 - By 

    In the latest installment of 10 for ’20 – our series looking at ten Irish acts that are well and truly going places in 2020 – Will Murphy extols the “hefty, passionate punk” of Belfast trio Mob Wife. Photo by Joe Laverty Try as the world might, some pairings can’t be separated. Think of Killer Mike and El-P, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Stills and Nash, and, of course, Eric Clapton and cocaine. No matter what happens, the fates always seem to bring these two back together. With the rhythm powerhouse of Wilson Davidson and Chris Leckey, Belfast’s punk scene…

  • Gil Scott-Heron & Makaya McCraven – We’re New Again

    February 26, 2020 - By 

    It says a lot about the enduring quality of both Gil Scott Heron and his final album, I’m New Here, that in the ten years since he passed, we’re still talking and analysing that final broadcast, trying to find even more depth hidden between the silences. When that album was first pitched in 2006, Heron had recently been released from Rikers Prison with no real prospects on the horizon. When he died six years later, he was back on a career-high with his legacy firmly galvanised and a final transmission that stands a towering monument to his lyrical dexterity, genius,…

  • Green Day – Father Of All…

    February 13, 2020 - By 

    In 2004, Green Day irrevocably altered how the public perceived them. After their 1994 platinum smash, Dookie, the general consensus was that this was a band of juvenile so-cal boys who liked smoking weed, shamelessly ripping off the Clash and had very little to say. Basically, punk music for mallrats and frat boys. After a decade of not reaching the same commercial highs as their early career, they had to go big or close up shop. They opted for the former and essentially blew up their playbook and legacy.  With the release of American Idiot, gone were the group whose…