• Frame By Frame #001: Abandcalledboy – Cliff Richard

    February 4, 2014 - By 

    In the very first installment of Frame By Frame – a brand new feature looking at the production of music videos by all kinds of  Irish bands and artists – Colm Laverty talks to Ryan Burrowes and Mark Finnegan from Northern Irish alt-rock trio Abandcalledboy about their recent, wonderfully retro tribute to the Peter Pan of pop, Cliff Richard. >Hi guys. First off, tell us a little bit about each of your roles on this music video. Mark (Finnegan, bass): I did a lot of the pre-production (storyboarding, set pieces, locations), it’s something I have a bit of experience in, but…

  • Watch: TVVINS – You Better

    January 30, 2014 - By 

    Having emerged on Monday via a Soundcloud stream, Dublin side-project TVVINS have unveiled the old school video game-esque video for their ridiculously infectious forthcoming single, ‘You Better’. Created by Kevin Freeney of Vibes, the video features Conor Adams and Lar Kay in a malfunctioning Atari netherwold. Are they trapped? Have they died on tour and gone to the Commodore 64 in the sky? Nobody knows but what we can say for certain is that the video is a brilliantly inspired accompaniment to the track, the duo’s second single since forming last year. Check out James Hendicott’s introductory interview with the band…

  • Inbound: Cruising

    January 30, 2014 - By 

    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…

  • Stream: The Rupture Dogs – Before The Flood

    January 28, 2014 - By 

    With an extremely promising year ahead of them, Belfast-based alt-rock quartet The Rupture Dogs have released ‘Before The Flood’, the second single to be taken from their debut album, Feral. Featuring two accompanying b-sides – ‘Hangman’ and an acoustic BBC session version of ‘Wake Up’ – the single comes to from on its chorus, the band’s grunge-tinged chord progressions melded perfectly with frontman Allan McGreevy’s wonderfully rasping vocals. The Rupture Dogs will play Belfast’s Stiff Kitten on Friday, January 31 alongside the likes of Safe Ships and Nomadic Rituals. Go here for the show’s Facebook event page. Stream the ‘Before The Flood’…

  • The Record #004: Stillpoint

    January 28, 2014 - By 

    In the latest installment of The Record, Liam Kielt caught up with Belfast alt-rock band Stillpoint as they recorded their forthcoming single ‘Go Ahead and Go’ at Start Together Studio. A semi-swansong as sorts coinciding with the band’s recent decision to go on hiatus for a while, it will be released at some point over the next couple of months. Check out Liam’s photos from the recording and our interview with Stillpoint frontman (and Two Glass Eyes‘ bassist) Dave McKendry below. Hey guys. You recently recorded your single ‘Go Ahead and Go’ at Start Together. Tell us about the recording process.…

  • Stream: TVVINS – You Better

    January 27, 2014 - By 

    “This feels like a long term project, who knows where it will end up”. So said Lar Kaye of Adebisi Shank – and one half of Dublin synth-pop act TVVINS – in our interview with the latter last year. Two months later and the pair, also comprised of Conor Adams from The Cast of Cheers, have released their second single, the propulsive electro-pop of ‘You Better’. Comprised of vocoder vocals, forward-moving rhythms, arpeggiated synth lines and slick guitar chords, the track is a notably more earworming and forward-moving counterpart to the equable cool of the pair’s debut single, ‘Two Worlds’. TVVINS play…

  • Stream: The Wood Burning Savages – Flu Season

    January 23, 2014 - By 

    Having just announced that they’ve been selected to play at the Derry Music Trail as part of Other Voices in February, Derry four-piece The Wood Burning Savages have released a wonderfully understated new track titled ‘Flu Season’. Written only two days ago, the song – propelled by fingerpicked guitar shapes, frontman Paul Connolly’s increasingly earnest delivery and impressively unravelling vocal harmonies – was recorded in the band’s wood shed just yesterday. Stream/download the track (for free) via Soundcloud below.

  • Watch: Fox Jaw – Kerosene

    January 21, 2014 - By 

    Coinciding with downsizing their name from Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters, Limerick band Fox Jaw have unveiled the video to their punchy new single, ‘Kerosene’. Released on February 28, the single – taken from the five-piece’s forthcoming album, Ghost’s Parade – is propelled by a strutting alt-rock groove and raspy vocal delivery that combine to excavate wonderfully malevolent undercurrents. Watch the video – directed by Shane Serrano from the band – below.

  • Watch: Effy – Move

    January 15, 2014 - By 

    Kildare-derived, Dublin-based electronic two-piece Kieran Craddock and Peter Fleming AKA Effy have unveiled their latest single, ‘Move’, a nigh on seven-minute unravelling electronic odyssey. Speaking to us about the track, the duo said, “The track is actually a couple months old at this stage and as with all of our tracks it came about through messing about and shit in the studio.” “Our Disco’s Dead release [Forth/The Look] should be out real soon and we’ll be announcing details of our next EP shortly after, the pair continued. On top of that we’re trying to gig as much as possible”. Watch the video for…

  • Watch: Bleeding Heart Pigeons – Visiting Myself in Hospital

    January 14, 2014 - By 

    “I’m a tightrope walker over miles of sea/This a frame of mind I’m in will end up killing me.” So goes one of the lines from ‘Visiting Myself in Hospital’ by Limerick experimental three-piece Micháel Keating, Brendan McInerney and Cathal Histon AKA Bleeding Heart Pigeons, a track about the hypothetical ponderings of one of the Columbine killers. Take a step back from the subject matter, the song’s somewhat unexpected no wave-esque outro and the song’s DIY video (below) and you’re left with a wonderfully simple, rather endearing slice of indie/synth-pop. Indeed, as is becoming their custom, Bleeding Heart Pigeons have combined the…