• Stream: Cruising – My Twin Sister

    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

  • Cruising – Cruising

    Sometimes a band name can elucidate the direction in which its songs will travel.  Cruising are a case in point, named after a book/film delving into the dark underworld of a serial killer who picks up homosexual men from the New York S&M scene to murder.  EP cover emblazoned with a black leather biker jacket, band name studded across the shoulders, and PVC leather hat a la Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes, worn in promo photos runs with the theme. There’s more than a whisper of iconic female rockers like Joan Jett, Siouxsie Sioux and Poly Styrene.  Understandably so, given that…

  • Stream: Cruising – Cruising EP

    One of our collective favourite Irish bands, post-punk supergroup Cruising – featuring current and former members of Girls Names, September Girls, Sea Pinks & Logikparty – have unveiled their eponymous debut EP. Released through Tough Love Records on August 14, the first 100 of the 300 12″ pressings have been printed on hot pink vinyl, available to pre-order here. The EP was recorded across two nights in Dublin’s Guerrilla Studios and mixed in Belfast’s Start Together, where much of the Cruising membership have previously recorded. Blending garage & psych riffery very much through the filter of early ’80s post-punk – à la Joy Division, Magazine…

  • Stream: Cruising – Safe Corridor

    Having announced last week that their self-titled debut EP will be released via Tough Love on August 14, Cruising are streaming one of its featured tracks, ‘Safe Corridor’. Something of a composite of the coastal doom and promenade solipsism of their other bands (September Girls, Girls Names and Sea Pinks) the track retains a singular, virulent edge, capturing some of the magic that has made the Dublin/Belfast quartet’s early shows nothing short of awe-inspiringly good. Pre-order Cruising here.

  • Cruising @ Menagerie, Belfast

    So far, Cruising have been taking things fairly slowly. Though the Belfast/Dublin quartet officially operate under pseudonyms (Benzedrine Black, Sex Grimes, Dan Handle and Dick Vortex), they’re easily recognisable to anyone who has even a passing interest in Irish music at the moment, made up as they are of members of Girls Names, Sea Pinks, September Girls and the now defunct Logikparty. Another one of Sunglasses After Dark’s top notch events, without a support act The Menagerie slowly fills up to the sounds of The Stooges and other assorted proto-punk bands, which sets the tone for what’s to come. It’s…

  • Monday Mixtape: Claire Miskimmin (Girls Names/Cruising)

    Following on from Aghagallon singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery and And So I Watch You From Afar guitarist Niall Kennedy, the latest willing subject of Monday Mixtape is Claire Miskimmin ofGirls Namesand Cruising. Traversing U.S goth rock pioneers Christian Death, Melbourne garage punk five-piece Total Control, Detroit post-punk quartet Protomartyr and more, the ten-track playlist is a half-hour sojourn of wonderfully doom-laden proportions. Cruising play Belfast’s Menagerie on March 14 as part of Sunglasses After Dark. Claire Miskimmin DJs at her night, Bad Vibes, at Belfast’s Woodworkers every second Thursday night. If you like what you hear below, make sure to hit it up this…

  • In Photos: No Tomorrow Launch @ Voodoo, Belfast

    As well as putting on a fantastic exhibition of his gig photography on the night, Belfast-based photographer Diarmuid Kennedy managed to capture the launch of our new gig/club night, No Tomorrow, at Belfast’s Voodoo bar on Saturday night. See below for his photos of our headliners, Derry band Autumns and Belfast/Dublin quartet Cruising.

  • No Tomorrow Launch @ Voodoo, Belfast

    We launch of brand new gig/club night NO TOMORROW at Voodoo Belfast this Saturday, March 1. Headlining on the night is fast-rising Dublin noise rock quartet Girl Band (above), an act whose ferocious latest single ‘Lawman’ seduced Pitchfork, The Quietus and many others aside. Support on the night comes in the form of hugely promising Belfast/Dublin garage quartet CRUISING and a DJ set from the one and only Not Squares. The Thin Air DJs will also be delivering an abundance of tunes throughout the night. A plenitude of awesome visuals will also be on display on the night, the first…

  • Inbound: Cruising

    Comprised of members from Belfast and Dublin respectively, Cruising reared their head back in November with a scuzzy, two-chorded burst of overcast garage-rock in the form of ‘You Made Me Do That’. It pricked our ears and spiked our inner eye from the first crashing cymbal, the four-piece’s albeit “early days” vibe positively promising some great things in the making. Ahead of their debut Belfast show supporting September Girls at the Menagerie on Saturday, February 1, we fired a few questions to band (featuring one or two familiar faces) and they fired some answers back. Hello, Cruising. Whilst we could be…