• R51 – No Chill EP Premiere & Interview

    September 9, 2016 - By 

    R51 are amongst the hardest working bands on the island right now; they’re taking this seriously. Falling broadly into a nu-gaze sound without ever losing sight of their carefully crafted & thoughtful pop sensibility, they’re a five piece with all the right components. In the studio, they’re all about pop perfection and live, it’s a padded mallet of sound. They’re led by the power coupling of frontwoman Mel Shannon’s soaring vocals – also band photographer & craftsperson – and lyricist & guitar wizard Jonny Woods – who records & produces everything in their studio – with the punk edge coming from…

  • Premiere: Invaderband – Ship of Nothing

    September 1, 2016 - By 

    With their self-titled debut album set for release on November 25, Derry quartet Invaderband‘s idiosyncratic brand of garage-laced artrock betrays the hallmarks of a band content in doing things their way without neglecting the power of the hook. Nowhere is that more self-evident than on their forthcoming single ‘Ship of Nothing’, an impossibly earworming three minutes that simultaneously rollicks and lulls via chopping guitar chords, handclaps, seagull samples and organ lines in confident, mercurial synchronicity. Invaderband songwriter and vocalist Adam Leonard, “Lyrically this record covers a number of disparate bases: The invasion of Iraq, ectoplasm, alien attack and Alan Rickman, and that’s…

  • Premiere: Tenro – Vimana

    September 5, 2016 - By 

    Dublin duo Marc Aubele and Brian Conniffe AKA Tenro meld darkcore, ambient techno and deathpop with an outsider fearlessness that isn’t likely to yield to populism or calculable trend any time soon. Taken from their forthcoming debut album – which is set for release via Dublin’s Little Gem Records on October 7 – the pair’s latest track, ‘Vimana’, forges warped, Mogwai-esque modulated vocals with infernal synth textures and perfectly demented samples across five minutes. Accompanied by a suitably tripped-out (possibly seizure inducing – be warned) video, the track sits at the right side of nefarious, each phrase clawing away at some vague malevolent inking just out of view.

  • Premiere: Scenery – Howlin’

    August 25, 2016 - By 

    Early days though it is, Derry’s Scenery have already established themselves on the live front as an act that won’t likely be slotted into a neat box any time soon. With a sound confidently traversing progressively-minded rock, soul, jazz and blues, the Stephen Whiteman-fronted band’s debut single ‘Howlin” is a feverish effort weaving wanton sax and vocals over a creeping chord progression that burrows deep. For a band proudly wearing throwback sounds on their collective sleeve, it’s a first gambit that edges into forward-looking, decidedly urgent territory. Taken from their debut EP, Far Out, exclusively stream ‘Howlin” – and check out forthcoming Scenery…

  • EP Premiere: New Gods – Weird War Tales

    August 22, 2016 - By 

    A self-proclaimed “sleazy punk/rock n’ roll junk” band, Dublin’s positively scuzz-infested New Gods will play their swansong alongside the likes of Murder and Overbite at Fibbers in Dublin this Saturday night. But before bowing out in a blaze of old school punk abandon (a highly recommend proposition in and of itself) the five-piece will release their latest and last four-track EP, Weird War Tales, on Thursday. Tipping its pissed-off hat to everyone from Dead Boys, Sex Pistols and The Wipers, the EP – which we’re pleased to premiere here – offers up just over nine minutes of breakneck, begrimed brilliance.

  • Premiere: Drown – Drown EP

    August 19, 2016 - By 

    Having formed less than a year ago, Galway noise-pop outfit Drown have quickly emerged as a group you’d be foolish to ignore. Following their lo-fi post-punk debut single ‘Descent’, released earlier in the summer, the five piece now unveil their full debut EP, a feast of melancholic pop that steers resolutely toward the grittier, unpolished realms of post-punk and shoegaze. ‘Narcos’ sounds like a West of Ireland interpretation of Turn on the Bright Lights era Interpol while ‘Tao’ is a teasing, woozy goodbye to close the release, leaving the path ahead unlit and open to change. While the group’s nods to Joy Division and…

  • Watch: Morrissey & Marshall – Stand Down

    August 3, 2016 - By 

    Set for release on August 26, ‘Stand Down’ by Dublin rock n’ roll duo Morrissey and Marshall is a track inspired “by those poor unfortunates (politicians) who tend to stop at nothing when striving for success… They will lie, mislead, instil fear and do whatever it takes to get the people on side, without any true regard for the people. This song sparks the idea that there will eventually come a time when we’ll come together, rise above the fear and use truth, honesty and love to start fixing all of the things that need to be fixed.” An admirable,…

  • Premiere: Guilty Optics – The Kayapo Ghosts

    July 13, 2016 - By 

    Since featuring as an Inbound act in the sixth issue of our magazine last year, Dublin’s Guilty Optics have been a little on the quiet side. That said, with their Ben Moore-produced debut album set to drop at the end of the year, the punk trio of Al Finnerty, Lewis Hedigan and Richie O’Reilly are back with an emphatic teaser of what lies in store in the form of ‘The Kayapo Ghosts’, a virulent post-punk throwdown that lyrically tackles the destruction of Amazonian rainforests and the forced removal of indigenous Kayapo tribes. Have an exclusive first listen below.

  • Premiere: DIVAN – Sale of Lakes

    June 21, 2016 - By 

    Formed out of the need to explore new territory away from their other projects, Dublin imports DIVAN, made up of members of Ambience Affair and Tomorrows have found a new lease of life on their forthcoming album Modern Knowledge. Produced by Ramona Falls, Menomena and EL VY man Brent Knopf, expect the album to be one rich with depth and melody. Brian Coney chatted to the band about their formation and their ethos. Listen to ‘Sale of Lakes’ below. Hi guys. First up, for those completely new to you, can you give us a bit of background to the formation of the…

  • Premiere: Hiva Oa – A Great Height

    June 15, 2016 - By 

    Not merely the second largest island in the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, Hiva Oa are a Belfast duo set to release their long-awaited new EP mk2 (part 1) on August 5. Having returned to their native Ireland after residing in Edinburgh, Stephen Houlihan and Christine Tubridy turn their attention to the laws and imprint of fear, loneliness, abandonment and awakening on the new release, something that’s impressively manifest on its lead single ‘A Great Height’. Evoking the likes of PVT, The Twilight Sad and a more inward-looking Not Squares, the track’s swirling flurry of contorting electronica, weaving bass patterns and braying guitar swells meld…