• Bloc Party – HYMNS

    January 30, 2016 - By 

    For many, Bloc Party exist very much at a specific moment in time: Post the treble laden jangle of The Strokes and as somewhat forefathers to the frenetic melodies of bands like Foals and the hybridisation of electronica, house and old fashioned garage rock. Moving away from this point, some would argue that Bloc Party lose their relevance and quality. The two hiatuses that have underpinned the latter part of the group’s career may have offered solicitous gossip on the newsfeeds but they also seemed increasingly remote. And while two long term members leaving the group may be nothing to sniff at, the band’s…

  • LAU @ Duncairn Arts Centre, Belfast

    January 31, 2016 - By 

    There’s something about Edinburgh tables. JK Rowling’s scribblings at one in an Edinburgh café gave birth to Harry Potter and world literary domination. Likewise, when accordionist Martin Green, singer-guitarist Kris Drever and fiddler Aidan O’Rourke jammed at a table in Edinburgh in 2004, little did they know that those would be the first steps towards taking the folk world by storm. Twelve years, five critically acclaimed albums and a slew of BBC Radio 2 Best Folk Band awards later, LAU find themselves in demand at festivals, clubs and concert halls the length and breadth of the UK, in North America…

  • Shearwater – Jet Plane and Oxbow

    January 29, 2016 - By 

    It’s been a long time since U2 really conjured anything other than annoyance. It’s been nearly two decades since All That You Can’t Leave Behind rekindled some of their initial spark and the group have spent the better part of that time grandstanding, bungling misjudged album launches and releasing music that limps into obscurity months after release. So with the old vanguard falling by the wayside, it’s high time that somebody took up the position and started leading the charge. Shearwater, the brainchild of multi instrumentalist and lead vocalist Jonathan Meiburg, have spent the guts of the last decade finely…

  • Donum Dei w/ So Long Until the Seance, The Organ Grinders and Cavehill @ The Pavilion, Belfast

    January 25, 2016 - By 

    If you ever needed proof of just how varied the heavy music scene is in Northern Ireland you need only to check out last Saturday night’s Distortion Project gig lineup. Set in the Pavilion bar, it featured groove rock, punk rock, glam/horror metal and modern metal. Impressive, eh? First up were aforementioned groove rockers Cavehill (below), who are forgiven for their slightly too loud snare mike and late bass issues when we discover that due to the rugby match being shown, only the headliners had time to soundcheck. Rock and roll, man… their catchy brand of groove-heavy bluesy rock is…

  • The Night Beats w/ September Girls, Twinkranes @ The Grand Social, Dublin

    January 25, 2016 - By 

    It is safe to say that the initial seeds of psychedelic infused garage rock originated in the United States in the mid to late 1960’s. Most of these bands ended up releasing the odd single or if they were lucky an album, before disappearing back into obscurity. Fortunately with the likes of Lenny Kaye’s invaluable Nuggets compilation as well as the Pebbles and Back From The Grave series, these bands have found new audiences with modern-day artists such as The Black Angels, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees and tonight’s headliners The Night Beats, continuing to bear the psych and garage…

  • Tortoise – The Catastrophist

    January 22, 2016 - By 

    There have been several acts that have stood as the totems of instrumental rock music, or post-rock in the broadest sense of the word: Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Sigur Rós all acting as cornerstones of the genre’s respective corners. For the past 26 years however, Chicago five-piece Tortoise have been the oft-unsung heralds of a scene’s progressive evolution, gradually bubbling under as one of those defining acts, cementing their influence on the countless bands that have followed a similar stylistic path. Originating as a “rhythm section for hire” of sorts, the focus on rhythm…

  • Savages – Adore Life

    January 22, 2016 - By 

    Revivalism – is that a dirty word? It is if you’re in a band, trying to forge your own sound while folk are sitting there spouting comparisons. As Ought have shown us Stateside, if you’re going to retread well-worn ground, you better lace up your assault boots and do so with conviction, stamping any glib reference points from the mind of the listener. Savages aren’t short on conviction. Nor are they short of muscle in the art of ratcheting up the tension within a track. Post punk was all about tension, though, wasn’t it? The London quartet’s debut, Silence Yourself,…

  • Rabid Bitch of the North (Single Launch) w/ Astralnaut & Erosion @ Voodoo, Belfast

    January 20, 2016 - By 

    It’s a gig that’s been a long time coming: Rabid Bitch of the North’s single launch for ‘Green Eyes’. Plagues by distribution issues (record label Alone Records hit problems with both Record Store Day and the crumbling Greek economy), invitations for preorder were went out in March last year but the vinyl single (and accompanying anthology CD) didn’t actually arrive until around Halloween. A posse of bands was duly assembled (with Caustic God sadly having to drop out last minute) for the launch gig scheduled for January 16th in Voodoo. First up, Caustic God’s replacements Erosion stepped onstage. Having been…

  • Motionless In White w/ Silent Screams and New Years Day @ Mandela Hall, Belfast

    January 19, 2016 - By 

    Queen’s University student union complex: students by day, emos by night. Yep, it’s a case of ‘another underage gig in Mandela Hall’; this time goth metalcore heroes Motionless In White are back in town on their first run as headliners in the UK. Cue many, many black-clad, eyeliner-heavy teenagers descending on the cold streets of Belfast. Up first it’s another metalcore act, Coventry’s Silent Screams. The house lights abruptly drop and a heartbeat sound washes over the crowd, who respond noisily with a “Silent Screams! Silent Screams!” chant. Almost from the first note an emo moshpit breaks out (safer, less…

  • Gascan Ruckus – Narrow Defeats and Bitter Victories

    January 18, 2016 - By 

    Armagh’s Gascan Ruckus are long overdue their time in the sun having spent the better part of a decade honing their skills and carving out their place in the scene. Operating in the same range as Fighting With Wire, Twin Atlantic or Dinosaur Pile-Up and a live show that beggars belief, the group has long been teetering on the brink of mainstream acceptance. With their debut album, Narrow Defeats and Bitter Victories, they’re primed and ready to be pushed into the spotlight. Among the record’s stronger cuts are songs such as the PigsAsPeople inspired ‘Goodbye’ or the mammoth riff of…