• Watch: Rory Nellis – Wild

    November 6, 2017 - By 

    Unless you’ve been residing under a fairly sizable rock over the last few months, you’ll be aware that Belfast’s Rory Nellis has been releasing a series of singles from his forthcoming second album, There Are Enough Songs In The World. A brave move by anyone’s standards, but Nellis is far from your average songsmith. The final single and closing track from the album – which is launched at Belfast’s The MAC this Saturday, November 11 – ‘Wild’ feels like a fitting, deceptively ambitious crowning touch. Clocking in at just under seven minutes, it’s a masterfully unravelling tale that bursts into glorious, full-band swansonging…

  • Premiere: CATALAN! – Alive

    November 1, 2017 - By 

    Back in July we presented a first look and listen to ‘OKA’, the debut solo single from CATALAN! AKA Ewen Friers of North Coast alt-punk three-piece Axis Of. What we said of that track (“whilst certainly redolent of the subtly anthemic and nicely bombastic alt-punk of the aforementioned North Coast outfit, explores new, socially-conscious territory) could be directly applied to new single, ‘Alive’. Featuring some great visuals courtesy of Tristan Crowe and Chrissie McGlinchy, it’s a fuzzed-out and perfectly trouncing effort that will almost certainly become something of a live favourite for the project in the coming months.

  • Watch: Autumns – You’re A Right Useless Cunt Aren’t You

    November 2, 2017 - By 

    What’s your favourite song title of the year? Although we quite like ‘Dishing Out Hadoukens’ by The Tragedy of Dr. Hannigan and ‘Everyone Else (Can Fuck Off)’ by Half Forward Line, ‘You’re A Right Useless Cunt Aren’t You’ by Derry’s Christian Donaghey AKA Autumns is a worthy contender in our eyes. Taken from his recently-released Dyslexia Tracks – a pulverizing, five-track EP that comes hot on the heels of his debut album Suffocating Brothers – it’s an eight-minute traipse of rabid electronica that now comes accompanied by some suitably oppressive visuals from Belfast’s Barry Cullen.

  • 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…

  • Watch: Fontaines – Hurricane Laughter

    September 26, 2017 - By 

    Dublin post-punk outfit Fontaines have returned with the announcement of ‘Hurricane Laughter/Winter In The Sun’. Following ‘Liberty Belle’ from May this year, the new 7″ will be released on October 6th. ‘Hurricane Laughter’ (below) is as propulsive as its title might suggest, with a relentless motorik groove and circular guitar lick that begs for repeated listens. It’s carried by a droll, spoken-word vocal that has more than a hint of Mark E. Smith at its core, albeit Mark E. Smith via North Dublin. It also comes paired with a fitting video directed by Javier Martínez de Velasco. On the other side then is…

  • 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…

  • Video Premiere: Elder Druid – Witchdoctor

    September 15, 2017 - By 

    Belfast-based sludge doom five-piece Elder Druid are self-proclaimed “Occult-laced riff dealers” on a mission. Having impressed with their debut EP, Magicka, in September last year, the band – who count the holy, hazed-out tetrad Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Kyuss and Sleep as key influences – will release their pummelling full-length release, Carmina Satanae, early next month. Produced by Niall Doran at Belfast’s Start Together Studio, the record is a fist-clenched, eight-track statement of intent from the fast-rising, Gregg McDowell-fronted band. A highlight from the release, lead single ‘Witchdoctor’ evolves from straight-up riff worship to the slowly bludgeoning self-exorcism of its Electric…

  • 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…

  • Premiere: Swimmers Jackson – Life’s Short (Embrace It)

    August 30, 2017 - By 

    Shot on a boat somewhere between Croatia and Montenegro, the video for ‘Life’s Short (Embrace It)’ by Dublin’s Niall Jackson AKA Swimmers Jackson perfectly captures the song’s simple yet potent message. The second single to be taken from his forthcoming new EP, the track finds Jackson (who is also a member of Dublin indie rock quartet Bouts) in particularly emphatic form, weaving wistful, surf-tinged harmonies with a brilliantly burrowing, lo-fi sensibility. We’ll cut to the chase while we’re at it: this is easily one of our Irish tracks of the year so far. The release comes ahead of a string of…

  • Watch: SlowPlaceLikeHome – Echoes

    August 24, 2017 - By 

    Fronted by Keith Mannion, Donegal psychedelic electronic act Slow Place Like Home returned last week with one of the Irish tracks of the year so far, ‘Echoes’. The second single to be lifted from the band’s forthcoming album, When I See You…Ice Cream, the track – which features vocals from Fearghal McKee of ’90s cult Irish alt rocker Whipping Boy – now comes bolstered by a stellar video courtesy of Michael Liston. Filmed on location in July in and around Ballyshannon and Dicey Reillys in Donegal, it very nicely reflects the song’s nocturnal, otherworld sway. Slow Place Like Home play Electric Picnic…