• Chatting To The Cheesemonger: An Interview with Danny Carroll

    A quintessential indie rock showman-turned-millennial songsmith in the classical mode, we have a chat with Danny Carroll ahead of the release of his solo debut LP I Am The Cheese, out this Friday. Your debut LP I Am The Cheese shares its title with a 1977 young adult fiction novel, written by Robert Cormier. Could you tell us about the poignancy of that title to yourself and this body of work? It’s a book I read when I was 12 and was pretty haunted by. The final lines of the novel refer back to the folk song ‘The Farmer In…

  • Video Premiere: Danny Carroll – Cheesemonger

    We’ve long championed former Shrug Life frontman Danny Carroll as a forerunner in the conversation around Ireland’s greatest current-day lyricists. Continually capturing his milieu in sardonic, vivid detail, age has sharpened his instincts and composition, yet tempered his self-deprecative tendencies – to a point. That point is exactly what Carroll’s latest single, ‘Cheesemonger’, finds itself wrestling with throughout. The track is featured on Volume IV of the Litany of Failures compilation of which Danny Carroll is co-curator. It comes out tomorrow on digital & vinyl, and we’re pleased to give you a first look at the video for ‘Cheesemonger’. It…

  • A Litany of Failures: Volume IV is Announced

    Irish compilation series A Litany of Failures, which features independent acts from all corners of the island, has just announced the pre-order and tracklisting for its fourth volume.  Set for release on double vinyl and digitally on September 8th, it’s available via Bandcamp. The compilation features 22 brand new, exclusive tracks from some of our favourite acts on the island, as well as some exciting new prospects. The double vinyl set once again features artwork by Pipe & Pallet, and the first 30 pre-orders feature a bespoke print from Belfast-based artist Phantom Powered Pixels.  The Litany of Failures series aims to document the grassroots music community…

  • Irish Tracks of The Week – 21st July

    It’s a stacked week for Irish music, with some new music from some of the best names around, including Maija Sofia, Jape, The Mary Wallopers, Kojaque, Nealo, Sweetlemondae, Moondiver and more. The Mary Wallopers – Wexford Maija Sofia – Telling The Bees Space Shepherds – What Fabric? What Fabric? by Space Shepherds Sweetlemondae – Turn The World Jape – Heal These Wounds Kojaque – Bambi (Feat. Gotts Street Park) Connor McCann – I Believe Al Reddan – Galtee Mountain Boy Galtee Mountain Boy by al reddan Moondiver – When U Land moondiver · When U Land Nealo & Jehnova – Tears…

  • Video Premiere: Slouch – I Get What’s Mine

    Rising tides, self-help gurus, pricey new age answers to the unanswerable, unfettered capitalism, shitposting, a new video from Slouch; these are the harbingers of end times. Out today – and directed by Hugh Cannon – the video for their odyssey on the alpha male phenomenon, ‘I Get What’s Mine’ is a maelstrom of all of the above and more. It channels the likes of Ween and Brainiac, condensed into the kind of omni-layered satirical slacker noise they’ve near enough mastered. Long one of the most interesting bands operating in the Irish indie rock sphere, Dublin quartet Slouch have been working away behind closed doors on new material,…

  • EP Stream: Pôt-Pôt – Ode To A

    Following their first gig as a four-piece in March for the Port-To-Port festival in Lisbon, we’re delighted to give you a first listen to Ode To A, the debut EP from Cork-based experimental project pôt-pôt. Its four swirling, oneiric songs are based entirely around the note of A, with it being the only musical note used across the whole record. Cork’s Mark Waldron-Hyden (drums, synth, vocals) created pôt-pôt initially as a solo project – with the goal of writing only music that could be recreated as a solo act – during lockdown, before moving to Lisbon, where he met and recruited bassist Joe Armitage and guitarist Michael…

  • Hamer Place Releases Debut Single ‘A Tribute To Tina’

    As a member of Postcard Versions, Safe Neighbourhood, and Oh Boland, Ross Hamer’s place in the furniture of Dublin indie rock furniture is fairly well cemented. Enter new project Hamer Place and debut single ‘A Tribute To Tina’, another joyous guitar-led nugget brimming with all the immediacy you’d come to expect from him. Led by Hamer, the band features David Tapley, Hugh O’Dwyer and Neil Dexter, and was recorded by O’Dwyer in Hodland Studio earlier this year. On ‘Tribute To Tina’, Ross told us: “I’ve written lots of songs in my life, mostly miserable ones, but recently I felt like a change. Inspired by some of the greatest musicians of…

  • Watch: Gilla Band – Sports Day

    Gilla Band have dropped a new single, ‘Sports Day’. The b-side to Eight Fivers – which was accompanied by the announcement of their third album Most Normal last July – it’s a slowly unfurling and suitably stifling effort from the Dublin quartet. Today, the band have also announced four more UK/EU dates in what’s shaping up to be a busy schedule in 2023.  Check those and Michael Speed’s visuals for ‘Sports Day’ below.

  • Video Premiere: The Bonk – Trying On Oblivion

    Long one of our favourite acts in Ireland, The Bonk‘s modus operandi is endlessly fascinating, playful experimentation in song and improvisation, led by (former O Emperor) songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Phil Christie. Gathering influences from 60’s garage, jazz and experimental pop, the band bring recursive rhythms and improvised melodies together in minimalist song forms. Their first record, 2017’s The Bonk Seems To Be A Verb had a limited cassette run through label thirtythree-45, and was a collection of one-off live studio takes patched together from various sessions over an 18-month period. Today, we’re pleased to announce that for their second long player, the Bonk have again teamed up with the thirtythree-45 imprint…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 16th September

    Dive into the best Irish music of this week from Gilla Band, Farah Elle, Joshua Burnside, Kynsy, Clara Tracey, Meljoann and more.  Photo by Mark McGuinness Gilla Band – Post Ryan Farah Elle – Laundry Elaine Mai & MuRli – Ready Calmea – I know now I didn’t know, what it meant to really go I know now I didn’t know, what it meant to really go by Calmea Thee U.F.O. – Ponderous Fug Ponderous Fug by Thee U.F.O Waldorf + Cannon – Cut Loose Krea – September Sun Joshua Burnside – Late Afternoon In The Meadow (1887) Kynsy – Simple Life…