• Yeasayer – Amen & Goodbye

    April 4, 2016 - By 

    Judging by their interviews Yeasayer are duly concerned with keeping things fresh. Since they broke onto the scene almost ten years ago they’ve conjured up tracks from pop, rock, dance, folk, psychedelia and most things in between. They’ve been called ‘desert-rock’, ‘art-pop’ and the self- made label ‘Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel’. Yet the careful listener will spot sonic threads running from one album to another, connecting even some of the most disparate elements. Whether it’s the iPod-hippie of Odd Blood or the noticeably bare focus of 2013’s Fragrant World Yeasayer have always focused on the more expansive and melodic elements of song writing. Each album so far has been…

  • Meatbodies w/ No Monster Club @ Workman’s Club, Dublin

    April 4, 2016 - By 

    Just over six months has passed since multi-instrumentalist Chad Ubovich last made an appearance here in Dublin, when he played alongside his good friend Ty Segall in their sludge power trio Fuzz. Ubovich has been involved in the LA underground scene since he was a teenager and is also a touring member of Mikal Cronin’s band. However outside of these projects it’s Meatbodies (formerly Chad & the Meatbodies) that should be viewed as his intrinsic musical outlet. With a sound that does not stretch the boundaries of psych, garage rock and heavy riffs that far, one can easily imagine where…

  • Future of the Left – The Peace and Truce of Future of the Left

    April 4, 2016 - By 

    It’s been almost three years since the last Future of the Left album, though we haven’t exactly been left wanting, with frontman Andrew Falkous delivering two solid albums under his new Christian Fitness moniker in the interim. Nevertheless, it’s undeniably exciting to have the full band back in action, as demonstrated by the PledgeMusic campaign for fifth album The Peace and Truce of Future of the Left reaching its goal in a mere three hours. Their second pledge-funded album, they’re evidently one of model’s success stories, partly due to loyal fans that have been following Falkous since his Mclusky days, but also because they’re a band that…

  • Sunset Sons w/ Louis Berry @ Limelight, Belfast

    March 30, 2016 - By 

    “I’ve only got five strings now, but I’ll play on anyway!” Liverpool born support act Louis Berry is nothing if not enthusiastic, with the guitar malfunction that occurred only two songs into his set seemingly only spurring him on to deliver an even more frantic than usual perfromance. Berry’s snotty delivery is a true asset when delivering the sort of hard-nosed, retro rock n roll that he and his three band mates specialise in, and the Scouser’s throbbing energy sparked a warm response from the already impressively large Limelight 2 crowd, as he tore through numbers such as ‘.45’ and…

  • Tacocat – Lost Time

    March 30, 2016 - By 

    On first impression, Tacocat is a very unfortunate group. With their vaguely cutesy palindromic name and a clear sense of irreverence, they appear to be disciples of the worst kind of “lol, random” sensibility; the sort of Youtube videos and Tumblr posts that make you want to peel your skin off. On their most recent LP, Lost Time, the haphazard references to X-Files and REM don’t really do much to quell these concerns and, on initial examination, there is a sense that all they are is a flashy bit of fluff. While there is definite merit to that primary reading,…

  • Rolo Tomassi w/ Hornets @ Voodoo, Belfast

    March 29, 2016 - By 

    It’s a rather frustrating thing when bands announce a ‘UK tour’ that in reality is more like an ‘England with a token date in Scotland or Wales and nothing in Northern Ireland (or southern, for that matter)’ tour. So it was particularly gratifying when Sheffield mathcore rockers Rolo Tomassi announced an actual, honest-to-goodness UK and Ireland tour that promised two dates in the North and one in the South. Tonight in Belfast they were ably (and very much suitably) supported by hardcore/metal headcases Hornets. Hitting the stage about half an hour late, they emit a screech of feedback that signals…

  • Primal Scream – Chaosmosis

    March 28, 2016 - By 

    Primal Scream are the definition of British indie-rock royalty: former Jesus and Mary Chain drummer Bobby Gillespie’s genre hopping crew – which has welcomed contributors as diverse as Kevin Shields, the Stone Roses’ Mani, Robert Plant and Kate Moss – have constantly evolved their sound, from the jangle of early singles such C86 standout ‘Velocity Girl’ to the generation defining acid house crossover smash Screamadelica. After refusing to cash in on its success with following records, the band have embraced Stonesy boogie – Give Up But Don’t Give Out, Riot City Blues -, pulsating Krautrock – XTRMNTR -, B-movie soundtrack – Vanishing Point–  and everything in…

  • Sheer Mag – III

    March 28, 2016 - By 

    Sheer Mag are essentially the Jackson Lo-Five; that’s not meant as a term of derision, rather one of the endearment. They’ve taken the best parts of the Jackson Five, which would be Michael’s vocal melodies, wrapped it up with early 1970s classic rock and punk music and filtered it through early 1990s lo-fi recording a la Pavement or Beat Happening. While there’s no denying that it is a great deal of fun, the group’s previous singles are a testament to that fact, with their most recent 7 Inch release, III, it’s becoming apparent that are signs of strain in their…

  • 10 Cloverfield Lane

    March 25, 2016 - By 

    Cloverfield’s monster, descended from the Japanese kaiju tradition, belonged to the skyline. 10 Cloverfield Lane, the accidental spiritual cousin/franchise cash-in to Matt Reeves and J. J. Abrams’ found footage original, takes us into the dirt. Several feet below Louisiana farmland surface, to be exact, to an air-tight doomsday bunker built and manned by an unstable conspiracy theorist named Howard (John Goodman) who, convinced the Ruskies or Martians or mutant space worms were coming, poured all his time into a cosy subterranean homestead. Unlike the rest of us sheeple, he alone would be prepared for when shit went down. It’s unnervingly domestic, feminine even,…

  • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

    March 24, 2016 - By 

    Do you believe in Superman? Judging by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder doesn’t. Indeed, the Man of Steel sequel/Batman reboot/shared-universe kickstarter (breathe!) doesn’t seem to have much faith in anyone or anything. It’s a superhero story with little story and even less heroism. We’re now two films deep with DC Comics and Warner Brothers’ marquee film franchise, and they’re still embarrassed by their frontman. Superman is such a phenomenally over-powered alien-god that his stories require an equally rich sense of humanity for his struggles to connect. How can Clark be good? Can he inspire Earthlings or is he doomed to endlessly save us from ourselves? How…