• Premiere: Aural Air – The Torpor of Minds

    December 6, 2017 - By 

    It’s released this Friday, December 8, but we’re pleased to premiere today The Torpor of Minds, the debut EP from Aural Air, the project of Sligo native Laura Rai. This EP follows up on her 2016 debut two-track, Edinburgh – both of which are included on this release. The EP is propelled by the pairing of dreamily soaring, ethereal vocals with the kind of ethereal, off-kilter guitar chime you’d hope for on an Angel Olsen, Anna Calvi or Jeff Buckley record. Following a productive 2017 that saw her play the likes of Stendhal Festival and Sligo’s own Live On Air, The Torpor of Minds looks to propel her further again in 2018. With artwork by Tom Doig, it…

  • Shrug Life – ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    August 29, 2017 - By 

    Dublin’s foremost purveyors of wit-pop and satirists of modern day Ireland, Shrug Life, release their long-awaited album, titled ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ – fitting, really, given that bass player Keith Broni is the world’s first emoji translator. The jangle-pop trio are notable for having some of the most pointed lyrics on the island, courtesy of frontman Danny Carroll – who penned the album’s most recent single, the Repeal-themed ‘Your Body’. This is the band’s first lengthy release since 2015 debut EP The Grand Stretch on Popical Island. The album was produced by ‘veteran wildcard’ Fiachra McCarthy (also known for Dott, Squarehead & So Cow), with its artwork coming…

  • Premiere: Joey Gavin – Rolf/Run

    August 8, 2017 - By 

    No stranger to provocative, accessibly experimental indie rock, the latest two-track from Thumper‘s Joey Gavin is called Rolf/Run, released on 7″ through prolific Irish DIY label Little L Records (Shamir, Homeshake, Alex Calder, Syd Kemp etc.). It’s a catchy psych-pop number whose acid-dripped King Gizzard-lite melody belies a more acerbic message, veiling a darkness even The Zombies would nary have attempted. It’s framed, as you might have guessed, around the shortcomings of institutional hierarchies, and the abuse of power that they’ve given rise to, without forgetting to check ourselves for letting it happen; evenly, he also explores the shortcomings of the witch-hunt that can, and does take place, it’s…

  • Ro Gang – H.E.R.

    April 5, 2017 - By 

    The duo formerly known as Mr Rosso, Dublin lo-fi act Ro Gang release their album H.E.R. on April 12. Channelling Mac DeMarco-flecked, chorus-drenched idiosyncratic in-joke indie pop – and occasionally rap – they’re part of the Herzog TV collective in Dublin, responsible for countless records – check them out on Bandcamp. H.E.R. is released through Little L Records, was recorded by the band, and produced by Bart Boy. Ro Gang launch the album at the Grand Social on April 18, with support from Kean Kavanagh, Dachau Giftshop and 5 to 2. Admission costs €6 and doors open at  7pm.

  • Watch: Myles Manley – Pasta Solo

    March 24, 2017 - By 

    Inimitable English-born, Sligo-raiser, Dublin-based Myles Manley has just revealed the video for ‘Pasta Solo’, the first-rate B-side to his latest single. Filmed by artist Salvatore Fullam, and with a loose narrative thread based on a portrait of Manley, he’s leaning once more into the esoteric. It’s kitchen sink bedroom music, utilising – Tom Waits style – unorthodox instrumentation and deceptively intricate instrumental panache to share with us some of the sounds from a most unique of minds. The record, ‘Relax; Enjoy Yr Night Upon the Town’ is available in a limited 7″ release on midnight blue vinyl via Dublin indie imprint Little L Records.  Myles Manley officially launches…

  • Album Stream: Ralph Cola – Cosmic Joke

    October 24, 2016 - By 

    Dublin based label Little L Records have released the debut album Cosmic Joke from Coventry based musician Aidan Leather aka Ralph Cola. The LP is an assortment of crisp, jaunty cuts, incorporating into the psyche-pop foundation more jazz, funk and soul tropes and tricks than you could throw your hat at. Tracks like ‘Sundial’ and ‘Are You’ are psychedelic gems to put smiles on the faces of Connan Mockasin fans while ‘Floating’ and ‘Must be Tiring’ lean gleefully into the soul and jazz realm while maintaining the lo-fi pop charm. ‘COMMAND’ is a stand-out interlude, splitting the album down the middle and providing an electronic spin…

  • Stream: Naoise Roo – For You

    March 9, 2015 - By 

    Alternative singer-songwriter Naoise Roo unveiled yesterday – International Women’s Day – ‘For You’, the darkly atmospheric new single to be taken from her upcoming debut album, Lilith. Having debuted only last summer with powerful alt. rock free-download single, ‘Oh Son‘, Roo’s fire has lit up the local scene impressively quickly, with Lilith set for release on April 27 through Irish alternative & experimental label Little L Records. With only the layered-yet-stripped sound of ‘For You’ to go by, the album’s genre-spanning promises of ambient electronica, indie rock and burlesque could well show Lilith to be one of the great Irish breakthrough albums of 2015. Certainly this early on, her output is…