• Video Premiere: That Snaake – Dogs 4 Xmas

    December 5, 2018 - By 

    We might’ve just shared the mobile video for ‘Scofflaw // Sisyphus‘, but Dublin quartet That Snaake have upped their satire game with an merry offering of paranoia & nihilism, barely concealed by the Incesticide-era Nirvana & Wipers-recalling sludge-punk it calls a gift wrap. Dripping with references to history & pop culture – high and low-brow – it paraphrases Cabaret’s ‘Mein Herr’, about collective myopia blinding us to the rise of fascism in inter-war Germany, before the narrator takes us through questions of what’s missing in their life, and the Darth Maul costume they wore at Christmas. As the band – some of the most underappreciated burrowers Ireland has of the neuroses of the human…

  • Watch: Rory Nellis – The Fear

    December 4, 2018 - By 

    By all accounts one of the highlights at Other Voices in Dingle at the weekend, Belfast-based singer-songwriter Rory Nellis is riding a real wave of momentum at the moment. It’s something that’s just been underscored with his new single, ‘The Fear’ – a track that doubles up as arguably the songsmith’s most assured – and inspired – single effort to date. Now, the song comes pair with a sublime and wonderfully stripped-back video, courtesy of Belfast photographer and videographer Joe Laverty. Also featuring songwriter and Nellis’ fellow sonic conspirator Philip Watts d’Alton, you can watch it below. On Thursday night, Rory…

  • Premiere: Foolish Mortal – Girl Talk

    November 30, 2018 - By 

    Just when we couldn’t conceive of Cork-based musician Laurie Shaw being any more prolific, he’s only went and started a new side-project, Foolish Mortal. And boy are we glad. Though it’s rare that we copy and paste big, wordy press releases, it gives us no shortage of pleasure to share the following wonderful spiel, along with a very first listen to the new project’s equal parts fuzzed-out and earhole-burrowing lead single, ‘Girl Talk’. The self-titled Foolish Mortal debut is out via Sunshine Cult records on December 12. “This album goes a little deeper than the white hot fuzz you can hear. The…

  • Watch: Robyn G Shiels – An Offering as Such

    November 29, 2018 - By 

    Tonight, Robyn G Shiels launches his exceptional new five-track EP, Death of the Shadows, at Belfast’s Strand Arts Centre. Originally from Kilrea, the Belfast-based singer-songwriter has, with the help of some friends including Ben McAuley, who recorded it at Belfast’s Start Together Studios, crafted a release of exquisite doom-folk depth and lyrical incision. A perfect case in point is lead single, ‘An Offering as Such’, which comes accompanied with a wonderfully minimalist, yet visually potent video courtesy of Tristan Crowe. Death of the Shadows is self-released on 10″ vinyl via Black Tragick records tomorrow.

  • Watch: Dreaming of Jupiter – Fading

    November 27, 2018 - By 

    Fast-rising Dublin three-piece Dreaming of Jupiter have eked out their own niche from a wide-spanning palette of nocturnal neo-soul, ambient, alt-pop and beyond. It’s a creative honing, with an emphasis on real attention to detail, that has served them well on their debut EP, Fading. Its title track is a perfect case in point. It’s serves up a shapeshifting four minutes of nuance and melody, driven home by vocalist Gough’s effortless vocals. Dreaming of Jupiter launch Fading at Dublin’s Button Factory on Thursday night. Support comes from Roe and Xo Mo. Stream the EP and watch the video its title track below.  

  • Watch: Cubs – Swallows Will Be Leaving

    November 27, 2018 - By 

    Comprising artists on Galway indie imprint Rusted Rail –  namely Aaron Hurley (Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon), Keith Wallace (Loner Deluxe), Cecilia Danell (A Lilac Decline), Eddie Keenan (AKA The Driftwood Manor), Scott McLoughlin (Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon) and James Rider of United Bible Studies) – Cubs‘ sedate and self-proclaimed “left-of-field folk” is equal parts phantasmal and pastoral. It’s improvisational, sylvan and snugly-woven approach that is laid bare on the group’s second album, the recently-released, Darkr Earlyr. A highlight from the release, ‘Swallows Will Be Leaving’ is a paean to nature’s passage into wintertide via the parting of hirundinidae from the skies.…

  • Album stream: SPIES – Constancy

    November 27, 2018 - By 

    Having re-emerged back in March after a three year hiatus, Dublin five-piece SPIES have released their long-awaited debut album, Constancy. From single and cascading alt-pop anthem-in-the-making ‘Ho Chi Minh’ to slow-burning closing lament ‘Love is a Dream’, via three other first-rate singles, ‘Young Dad’, ‘Broadstone’ and ‘Uriah’, it’s an assured return from a band who have well and truly hit their stride. According to singer Michael Broderick, the album primarily revolves around change and transformation: “Our attempts to remain constant in an environment that is inevitably transforming. I wanted the songs to journey through a process of coping (and not…

  • Video Premiere: Post-Punk Podge & The Technohippies – NEU!wave!

    November 30, 2018 - By 

    The hottest independent revolutionary hip-hop team in Ireland, Post-Punk Podge & The Technohippies have just produced a video for instrumental tune ‘NEU!wave!’ in celebration of their first truly excellent year, and the anniversary of the Kick Against The Pricks EP. In the space of a year, with no management or label backing, the duo have had managed a great deal of upward mobility, playing Electric Picnic, Body & Soul, and selling out upstairs at Whelan’s, earning plaudits from satirical antecedents The Rubberbandits along the way – although, in their own words the real highlight was “Limerick pulling ahead of Cork in extra time during our set at Knockanstockan”. Very much concerned with art as…

  • Stream: Silverbacks – Just In The Band

    November 23, 2018 - By 

    Back in January, we featured Dublin five-piece Silverbacks as one of our ones to watch in 2018. Having underscored their ascent with the release of the blitzing indie-rock of ‘Dunkirk‘ shortly afterwards, the band have since been working alongside Girl Band’s Daniel Fox on their debut album, which is set for release next year. In the meantime, the band’s new single, ‘Just In The Band’, has us very excited. Over four minutes, it’s sharp and shapeshifting guitar music from a band whose knack for filtering the imprint of New York’s art-rock elite – without neglecting what makes their own sonic tact great – continues unabated. Artwork…

  • Watch: That Snaake – Scofflaw // Sisyphus

    November 20, 2018 - By 

    Remember that time we premiered the mighty ‘Scofflaw // Sisyphus’ by Dublin noise rock meddlers That Snaake? Two years on, the Paul O’Connor-fronted band are back with its suitably singular video. According to the band, the video is: a) About the budget-nightmare world of the Irish music scene b) Designed to be viewed on mobile devices as is the way of the future c) Taken from the release In The Court of the Baby Kyng out now on Little L records That’s the lowdown and you’re all the better for knowing it.