• Ro Gang – H.E.R.

    April 5, 2017 - By 

    The duo formerly known as Mr Rosso, Dublin lo-fi act Ro Gang release their album H.E.R. on April 12. Channelling Mac DeMarco-flecked, chorus-drenched idiosyncratic in-joke indie pop – and occasionally rap – they’re part of the Herzog TV collective in Dublin, responsible for countless records – check them out on Bandcamp. H.E.R. is released through Little L Records, was recorded by the band, and produced by Bart Boy. Ro Gang launch the album at the Grand Social on April 18, with support from Kean Kavanagh, Dachau Giftshop and 5 to 2. Admission costs €6 and doors open at  7pm.

  • Bosco Ramos – Signs of Life

    March 30, 2017 - By 

    Fuzzy Belfast-based alt. punk bass & drum duo Bosco Ramos release their debut EP Signs of Life on March 31. Recorded and produced by Jonny Woods of R51 at Start Together Studios, it follows up on their debut double-A-side SNKSWM from early 2016. Phil Brown and Calum McGeown have a knack for an earworm, taking influenced from Death From Above 1979 and Torche-esque aggressively uplifting alt. rock, without hiding behind Americanised accents. Check out the video for lead single, ‘Rolling Sea’: Bosco Ramos launch Signs of Life at McHugh’s, Belfast on Friday, April 7, with support from Junk Drawer, Vulpynes and Gnarkats.

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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

  • Group Zero – Structures and Light

    February 1, 2017 - By 

    With his primary project currently working on album number 4, Girls Names frontman Cathal Cully is to release his debut solo effort, Structures and Light under his Group Zero pseudonym. Released on February 17 on Touch Sensitive Records, like his bandmate Philip Quinn’s Gross Net electronic side-project, it projects the flip-side of their post-punk day-job, instead channelling the shadowy intensity along the lines of Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, without ever approaching an over-reliance on nostalgia or pastiche. As Touch Sensitive & Cully himself say: The genesis of this newly discovered musical freedom coincided with a viewing of ‘Pyramid of Light’ by Heinz Mack from the post-war Dusseldorf based…