• Stream: Girl Band – The Cha Cha Cha

    April 21, 2014 - By 

    Quite possibly the shortest track released for this year’s Record Store Day, Dublin four-piece Girl Band have made the brilliantly abrasive burst of noise rock that is ‘The Cha Cha Cha’ available to download for free. Once again evoking the likes of early Pixies and Mclusky/Future of the Left, the twenty-five second track is a fairly accurate summation of the band’s back catalogue to date: frantic, frenetic, breathless and gloriously pulverising in equal proportion. Our only complaint? You guessed it – it’s just that little bit too short. All said and done, we think you should listen to this. So do,…

  • Stream: The Wood Burning Savages – Been Anywhere Lately?

    April 21, 2014 - By 

    Another highlight from this year’s Record Store Day was a rather unexpected single from Derry band The Wood Burning Savages. Having written and recorded it during last week, ‘Been Anywhere Lately?’ was released on Saturday for the annual celebration of independent music stores worldwide. The track sees the Paul Connolly-fronted four-piece jolting straight for the jugular, pounding rhythms and impassioned refrains propelled by dual harmonies and the aforementioned frontman’s rousing tail-telling. In all, yet another subtly seismic clenched fist from the fast-rising Derry act. Stream ‘Been Anywhere Lately?’ via Soundcloud below.

  • Gig(s) of the week: Desert Hearts, Record Store Day & More

    April 15, 2014 - By 

    A year into our existence – hey, it’s been fun – we’ve decided that it’s both wise and opportune that we started expanding out horizons when it comes to our regular “gig of the week”. Ireland is a relatively big-ass country (the technical description for you, there), after all; one single show, exceptional as it might be, is simply not worth singling out at the expense of similarly awesome prospects in different areas across the city. And it is upon which note that we arrive, rather comfortably, at this week’s gig(s) of the week. The return of Desert Hearts Standing just…

  • Record Store Day 2014 Round-Up

    April 15, 2014 - By 

    Did you know that it was none other than Metallica who kickstarted Record Store Day back in 2008? Yes, James “Yeah-yeahhha” Hetfield and co. spearheaded the tentative inauguration of what has become an annual celebration of all things independent and vinyl-based right across the (ever-increasingly) audibly-appreciative globe. From the rather modest ten special RSD releases from the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, R.E.M. and Stephen Malkmus on its debut, there are hundreds of albums and EPs set to be released this Saturday, April 19; everything from Nirvana’s ‘Pennyroyal Tea’ 7″ to a 5LP Box Set of LCD Soundsystem’s a 5LP Box…

  • Good Vibrations Reopening

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Off the back of ever-growing, much deserved success of Good Vibrations on the big screen and coinciding with Record Store Day 2013, Belfast “Godfather of Punk” Terri Hooley re-opened his legendary record shop (“recurd shap”) upstairs in Bigg Life Community Arts, 89-93 North Street Belfast on Saturday, April 20. Terri, in usual dry yet upbeat spirit, casually stood at the till selling vinyl and discussing his soon-to-be, slightly begrudged appearance on the One Show. Of course, at such an early stage of the shop’s latest incarnation, stock was slim in comparison to certain high street alternatives but considering it’s the…