• Premiere: Guilty Optics – The Kayapo Ghosts

    July 13, 2016 - By 

    Since featuring as an Inbound act in the sixth issue of our magazine last year, Dublin’s Guilty Optics have been a little on the quiet side. That said, with their Ben Moore-produced debut album set to drop at the end of the year, the punk trio of Al Finnerty, Lewis Hedigan and Richie O’Reilly are back with an emphatic teaser of what lies in store in the form of ‘The Kayapo Ghosts’, a virulent post-punk throwdown that lyrically tackles the destruction of Amazonian rainforests and the forced removal of indigenous Kayapo tribes. Have an exclusive first listen below.

  • We Are Scientists Announce Irish Dates

    July 12, 2016 - By 

    Having released their fifth studio album, Helter Seltzer, back in April, We Are Scientists are returning for three Irish shows in October as part of their latest UK and Irish tour. The New York-based duo – who burst onto the scene back in 2005 with their major label classic With Love and Squalor – play Dublin’s Opium Rooms on October 20, Galway’s Roisin Dubh on October 21 and Belfast’s Limelight 2 on October 23. Tickets on sale this Friday at 9am.

  • Stream: Life Goals – Wreck Less Nature / / Between the Lines

    July 8, 2016 - By 

    Comprising former & current members of Belfast-based punk & alt. rock bands Gascan Ruckus, Empty Lungs and Two Glass Eyes, brand new indie punk trio Life Goals have just put out their debut two-track release, Wreck Less Nature / / Between The Lines. US contemporaries like Menzingers, PUP & Modern Baseball are clearly a shared influence amongst the band, from their gritty, modern emo-tinged guitar lines to frontman Decky McBride’s heartfelt, hook-laden vocals. Having spent most of the year writing and rehearsing, their release was recorded in March at Start Together Studios with Niall Doran. Life Goals played their first show in Belfast’s new, intimate The Barracks, last Saturday. They play…

  • Final Acts Added to Longitude 2016 Bill

    July 7, 2016 - By 

    With just over one week to go, Rusangano Family (above), Wyvern Lingo and Daithí are amongst a string of homegrown acts making up the final line-up announcement for this year’s Longitude, which is set to take place at Dublin’s Marlay Park next weekend. Also set to join the likes of Run The Jewels, Father John Misty, Roisin Murphy, Jamie XX and headliners Kendrick Lamar, Major Lazer and The National are HamsandwicH, We Cut Corners, Cork singer-songwriter Brian Deady and District 8 DJs. A limited number of 2 day and 3 day weekend festival tickets are on sale now. Check out the…

  • Watch: Heathers – Call Home

    June 29, 2016 - By 

    Twin sister duo Heathers have released an official video for their latest synth-pop single ‘Call Home’ created and filmed by Crooked Gentlemen, featuring plenty of beautiful Irish scenery to compliment their luscious harmonies. Heathers play St.John’s Priory in Kilkenny on  July 23. Buy tickets here.  

  • Watch: New Gods – Thrilled By Death

    June 29, 2016 - By 

    Having previously been featured as one of our 15 for ’15 in our magazine over a year ago, visceral Dublin punk group New Gods have emerged from their self imposed silence to release their new single Thrilled By Death, accompanied by a video created by Fh’yll at Moonbase Orlok. Watch as a band of skeletons get thrashed on beer with a suitably scuzzy VHS artifact effect. newgodsofpunk.bandcamp.com  

  • Watch: The Shaker Hymn – Another One of You

    June 23, 2016 - By 

    Few Irish bands manage to marry throwback and contemporary quite so convincingly as Cork five-piece The Shaker Hymn. Another earworming effort once more confirming the band’s ear for cunning composition and a killer chorus, their new single ‘Another One of You’ “reflects a deep romanticism often attributed to Dublin, but hidden away in beautiful Cork.” Curious words at a first glance but just one listen to their new single reveals the inner workings of those reflections on personal placement and identity in clear, sublime fashion. ‘Another One of You’ is the third track to be taken from the band’s second album,…

  • Album Premiere: Rory Grubb – Water House

    June 23, 2016 - By 

    Recorded in an old mill in Kilkenny, a wooden cabin in Carlow and a Georgian basement in Dublin over two very cold winters, Water House is the third album by Dublin artist Rory Grubb. Debuting Grubb’s much-admired creation, the Electric Ceramophone (a huge percussion instrument made from tuned clay pots) the release is a genre-warping, lo-fi gem evoking the likes of Beat Happening, The Microphones and Jeffrey Lewis. Largely opting for sampler keyboards and custom-made instruments throughout the release, Grubb has concocted another singular effort bursting with melody and bold experimentalism. Grubb launches Water House at Dublin’s Bello Bar on Friday night with support from Ross…

  • Stream: Cruising – My Twin Sister

    June 22, 2016 - By 

    Comprised of members of Sea Pinks, Logikparty, Girls Names and September Girls, Irish post-punk supergroup-of-sorts Cruising reared their scuzzy little head back in November 2013 with an early version of ‘You Made Me Do That‘ (it kicked ass – still does). Having thoroughly cemented that promise with their self-titled EP back in August last year, the band have re-emerged with ‘My Twin Sister’, a propulsive new effort that is quintessentially Cruising at its core, not least in its a locked-in rhythm section and straight-up punk strut. Stream/buy the track via Bandcamp below. My Twin Sister by CRUISING

  • Hard Working Class Heroes Call For Musician and Band Applications

    June 22, 2016 - By 

    Arguably the country’s leading celebration of homegrown, independent music, Hard Working Class Heroes will return to Dublin from October 6-8. With the likes of Hare Squead, Saint Sister and Rusangano Family standing out last year, the festival have made its annual call to the country’s musicians, bands and singer-songwriters to apply to play this year’s showcase.  You can apply via HWCH’s Breaking Tunes site; simply go here and click the ‘BANDS APPLY HERE’ button. The closing date for applications is July 22. Early bird tickets to Hard Working Class Heroes 2016 are priced at €35 via DICE until August 10, after which tickets will…