• Watch: Thunder On The Left – National Insecurity

    October 27, 2017 - By 

    Photo by Brian Ritchie  To mark its official release, London-based grunge trio Thunder On The Left have released their new single ‘National Insecurity’. Their first new music since 2015’s  The Art of Letting Go EP, ‘National Insecurity’ is a bleak gaze into the future the band predicts for us as we become ever more hyper-dependent on technology. The single is an ambitious, riff-laden belter that seems determined to shake some sense into us. Or at least freak the hell out of us until we put our phones down for 10 minutes. Recorded and mixed along with the rest of their forthcoming debut album by the…

  • Video Premiere: Half Forward Line – Column A, Column B

    October 26, 2017 - By 

    Galway super-group of sorts Half Forward Line are set to release their debut album The Back of Mass tomorrow. Before we premiere it on this here website though, the band have been kind enough to share a video for ‘Column A, Column B’. The trio, comprised of So Cow‘s Brian Kelly on guitar and vocals, Oh Boland‘s Niall Murphy and bass, and regular TTA photographer Cíarán Ó Maoláin behind the drums, have been doing some wonderful damage on the live circuit these past few months and also unveiled one of the sweetest love songs to come out of the West in quite some time in the form…

  • Track-by-Track: Feather Beds – Blooming

    October 26, 2017 - By 

      Ahead of the release of his second album Blooming, Dublin’s Michael Orange AKA Feather Beds has been kind enough to give us a track by track rundown of the record. Set for release this Friday 27 October on Montreal-based label Moderna Records, Blooming is a dreamy alt-folk venture written and recorded when the songwriter was living in Canada. Following his debut LP in 2015, The Skeletal System, Blooming is mixed and co-produced by Stephen Shannon (Adrian Crowley, Strands) and is a dreamy, multi-layered a that evokes the likes of The Antlers and Mutual Benefit‘s Love’s Crushing Diamond in its ambient folk atmosphere, but owes just as much to the hypnotic, minimal compositions of Steve Reich and to the…

  • Stream: Marcus Woods – Frequency

    October 13, 2017 - By 

    Clondalkin’s Marcus Woods – Ryan Cullen to his mates – is a 17 year old beatmaker who has coined his own genre: The charmingly self-deprecative “Chill Trash”. Modest, lo-fi hip hop beats combed with dusty melodies and plumes of mood make up the bulk of his limited output to date, with his dreamy for you mixtape having landed just six months ago. Cullen’s use of light sampling and a sincere sense of bedroom production value creates a sort of melancholy that is worth relishing in. He is set to release his next tape polychrome on November 24 via Wooden Spoons (the same bunch who put out one…

  • Stream: Other Creatures – Luxembourg

    September 27, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of this weekend’s Hard Working Class Heroes, Dublin three piece Other Creatures have released their first single, ‘Luxembourg’ from their aptly titled The First EP. The EP will be released by Trout Records where the band will be joining the likes of Saint Sister, Tandem Felix and Spies. ‘Luxembourg’ is the band’s first official release and is one loaded with jagged guitar chords and thunderous drums, giving it a post-punk flare that is brightened by the energised vocal melodies of Konrad Timon. This truly infectious track is an indie gem reminiscent of bands like Pavement, Interpol and Band of Horses. …

  • Watch: Eoin Dolan – It Is Good That We Dream

    September 19, 2017 - By 

    Eoin Dolan‘s music has always been characterised by its appreciation of the simple, finer things that we capture in moments and hold onto for years. Be that reminiscence of a holiday (‘Spain’), the rustic technicolour imagery of a seaside casino (Placid Ocean) or the woozy glue of a lost romance (‘Heavenly Possessed’), the tempered psych-folk backdrops have always fit beautifully with the Galwegian’s storytelling. Next week, Dolan will release his second full length album, UBIQUE, via Galway’s Citóg Records the singles from which have indicated a sharper turn into the psych pop “revival” stylings championed by the likes of Devendra Banhart and O Emperor. ‘It Is…

  • Album Stream: Kieran O’Brien – Turn

    September 18, 2017 - By 

    Galway’s Kieran O’Brien has been honing his style for some time now. From the atmospheric folk that defined last year’s After The Storm to the dream-pop leanings of June’s ‘Only A Dream’, the songwriter’s work to date has been explorative, sincere and endlessly refreshing. Returning now with his second EP, Turn, the ventures into a full-band sound are becoming more sure-footed and assertive, taking as many cues from the likes of The War On Drugs and Real Estate as from stalwarts of the Americana folk tradition. Speaking of the new EP’s thematic foundation, O’Brien said: “After The Storm reminisced heavily on the ocean and past events. These songs look ahead, towards…

  • Watch: Naive Ted – Only The Oppressor Knows Peace feat. MuRli

    September 11, 2017 - By 

    Limerick-based scratch master and frenetic, experimental hip hop producer Naive Ted has shared the first single from his new album The Minute Particulars // Episode I – The death of my trust is sincerely yours.  ‘Only The Oppressor Knows Peace’ is a fired up, sample-heavy venture into energised electronica with a typically excellent and socio-politically charged vocal feature from Rusangano Family‘s MuRli. All rattled melodic samples, cacophonous percussion and wiry synths, there is something suitably dystopian about this release. With lyrics like “Your love for power overpowered love. Now the death of my trust is sincerely yours” it is hard to escape the sense of…

  • The Rubberbandits confront Ireland’s suicide epidemic on ‘Sonny’

    September 11, 2017 - By 

    The Rubberbandits have shared a new single confronting the suicide epidemic that has led to Ireland being declared the country with the fourth highest teen suicide rate in Europe. ‘Sonny’ provides a raw insight into the misconceptions, ideas and conversation points that have surrounded the country’s dialogue on suicide in recent years. Lyrics include: “He isn’t lonely or addicted to drugs, he doesn’t owe his mother’s money to thugs, he’s not an alcoholic, he isn’t depressed, and he’s going to break a lot of hearts when he hangs himself.” The song ends with the message: “It’s always dark before the light…

  • Stream: Tandem Felix – Were You There (When They Crucified The Birthday Boy)?

    September 1, 2017 - By 

    After two years of near total silence, Dublin’s Tandem Felix have returned just in time for Autumn’s drowsy descent. Picking up where 2015’s Comma left off, David Tapley’s soft-tempered croon floats along atop a trademark alt-country backdrop courtesy of Éna Brennan (Dowry, Bad Sea), Jeffrey Courtney (Spies), Evan Keogh and Conor Muldowney. Re-introducing some of the bockety-toy-electronics that brought so much charm to 2013’s Popcorn, ‘Were You There (When They Crucified The Birthday Boy)?’ shows us Tandem Felix back on playful, tongue-in-cheek form, giving us plenty to be excited for when it comes to their debut LP, set to land in 2018. Were You There (When…