• Album Stream: Careerist – Weird Hill

    November 15, 2019 - By 

    It’s been a long, weird (sorry) trip up to this point, but the debut album for Belfast’s slickest indie rock trio Careerist (fka Hot Cops) is upon us. Weird Hill‘s nine tracks manage to slink through any number of influences and curveballs without losing coherence, clocking in at just under a half-hour. The wry smirk of Pavement can be glanced through buoyant, Deerhunter-sized melodies and slaloming Spaghetti Western guitar work, while the trio’s distinct, jerking sense of otherness remains consistent throughout. The LP was recorded & produced by Robocobra Quartet’s Chris Ryan, who does justice to the band’s reputation as one of Ireland’s tightest, most…

  • Premiere: Careerist – Slasher

    August 26, 2019 - By 

    Doubling up as their first offering as Careerist, the Belfast threesome formerly known as Hot Cops strike a confident tone on ‘Slasher’. The lead single taken from their forthcoming debut album Weird Hill (which is set for release on 12″ vinyl and DSP via Dundalk’s Pizza Pizza Records on November 15th) it’s a typically slick and Malkmus-esque mid-tempo gem from the Carl Eccles-fronted band. Featuring Eccles as an overworked athlete (and more), Hannah Schierbeek’s video – which is below – seals the deal.  

  • Premiere: Hot Cops – Decay

    July 27, 2018 - By 

    On Monday (July 30), Belfast indie rock stalwarts Hot Cops will release Speed Dating, a five-track EP that compiles remastered versions of their singles to date. Doubling up as a quick primer of-sorts, the release holds up as an all-killer insight into why the Carl Eccles-fronted band are widely considered to be one of the country’s very best (a theory you may have noticed we’ve shared over the last few years.) The release’s lead track, ‘Decay’ has long been a live highlight for the band. A three-minute blast of fuzzed-out slacker-pop, it’s a full-blown celebration of ennui that finds relief in both simple admittance and its feedback-soaked closing…

  • A Litany Of Failures Vol. II Announced

    July 3, 2018 - By 

    Following the limited release of cross-Ireland Little L Records compilation, 2016’s A Litany of Failures – featuring Oh Boland, Shrug Life, That Snaake and Junk Drawer – an expanded second edition has been confirmed for release on July 13. Set to be released on 180g gatefold double vinyl, as well as through Bandcamp, Spotify and the usual outlets, it features 18 acts from Belfast, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Dublin, Galway & Limerick. The DIY, co-op endeavour aims to provide an opportunity to perform outside each of their hometowns, shortening the mental distances between bands, and encouraging a cross-pollination of musical communities. Splitting costs between artists and the organisers, a sense of…

  • Watch: Hot Cops – Dumbbo

    November 14, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of their debut London show at the Islington on November 30, Belfast trio Hot Cops have resurfaced with the suitably spaced-out video for recent single ‘Dummbo’. Featuring age-old visual hallmarks like burning marshmallows, pink bedsheet ghosts and some field ironing at dusk, it makes for a curious, uniquely realised four minutes for the threesome.

  • Stream: Hot Cops – Dumbbo

    August 10, 2016 - By 

    A grinding, forlorn four-minutes wielding crescendo in fine fashion, ‘Dumbbo’ by Belfast trio Hot Cops is easily their most foreboding single to date. The follow-up to ‘Passive Passive’, the track – something of a recent live highlight for the Carl Eccles-fronted three-piece – steadily imparts backwashed thoughts and disorientated solipsism before yielding to a gusto of fuzzed-out resolve. This is a cunning, creeping effort that insists upon the repeated listen. Limited to 250 pink marble copies, ‘Dummbo’ will be released alongside ‘Auto’ via Paper Trail Records on September 2. Stream the A-side below.

  • AAA: And So I Watch You From Afar w/ Hot Cops @ T13, Belfast

    July 31, 2016 - By 

    Last night we had the honour of being involved in a secret show that we’re not remotely likely to forget any time soon. Supported by fast-rising Belfast band Hot Cops, globetrotting North Coast post-rock quartet And So I Watch From Afar delivered an extraordinary, career-spanning set at T13 in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. Simply put, if you were there you’ll know just how extraordinary it really was. Photos by Colm Laverty and Colm Moore. Photos by Colm Laverty Photos by Colm Moore

  • So Cow w/ Hot Cops, Junk Drawer & Shrug Life @ Voodoo, Belfast

    July 11, 2016 - By 

    Irish independent music is going through something of a renaissance at the moment with a burgeoning collective of bands attempting to show that music from Ireland is more than trad and U2. This evening at Voodoo we are treated to a selection of bands from various parts of the island who all bring something different to the scene. Dublin’s Shrug Life open affairs although this evening frontman Danny Carroll (below) goes it alone. Everything takes on a slower pace without the urgency of the drums or bass but Carroll strums through the set with enough assuredness and control that the…