01. Washed-out, jaded Americana-esque alt-rock? Right this way, please, to Belfast poster boys Hot Cops.
02. They’ve been busy in the last year or so, with a pair of 7″ releases via Paper Trail Records, enroute to more touring and releases in 2017.
03. Streaming above is new single Dumbbo, with b-side Auto, available for download and on pink 7″ from their Bandcamp.
04. Catch them next in Cork on the 22nd of April, in a free show at the Crane Lane Theatre. 8.30pm, with support from fellow Northy noisemakers Junk Drawer. An Alliance Promotions™ production.
Thoughts: A contemporary, disengaged, wonderfully bleary-eyed take on the old slacker tropes.
As part of our weekly contest for a crisp, freshly minted €25 voucher for Golden Discs, redeemable in any of thirteen locations around the country, we asked you to complete the following sentence:
‘The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be__________________because_________________’
The competition was stiff.
But there can be only one winner…
Clampers Outside: with the clincher:
“The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Song For the Dumped by Ben Folds Five because the lyrics are brilliantly simple, real …and cutting with bitterness, and a tinge of humour. After all, no one wants to lose their favourite t-shirt in a break-up. Gotta love his priorities.”
Other contenders from the running:
Ivan: “Well, look, ordinarily I’m rather humble in my choices, and bow to other views but frankly there’s only one and so… the greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Yes, by McAlmont & Butler because the lyrics, the voice, the swirling orchestra, the crunch of the guitars and production that Phil Spector himself would have called OTT”
Sham Bob: “The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Queen of Denmarkby John Grant because of the way it builds up to a completely devastating crescendo of defiance. If you were the target of this wall of fupp you-itude, you’d hide under a rock for six months after hearing it.”
Me: “The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Dead Kennedys’ (version) of Take This Job and Shove it because who hasn’t wanted to shout that at our boss at some point?”
Kenny U-Vox Plank: The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Philo’s Ode to a Black Man because it’s it sticks it to Ireland and anyone who can’t deal with the fact we are a multi-ethnic society. And because he’s Irish.
Mourning Ireland: “The greatest “fupp you” song in my experience would have to be Fupp Me Pumps by Amy Winehouse because it’s Amy saying that talking a walk in someone else’s shoes is skanky.”
Pearl: “The greatest ‘fupp you’ song in my experience would have to be Untouchable Face by Ani DiFranco because it’s a hate song about love.”
Scundered: “Nirvana, Territorial P**sings, because I’m too depressed to finish this sentence.”
01. South Dublin-based performer/songwriter/producer André Bangala, better known to the world as Rocstrong, has made his presence felt in Irish music as of late, featuring on The Thin Air’s 17 for 17 list, among other accolades.
02. Broadsheet Trailer Park regulars may recognise his tune Go Head: used by none other than the Coen Brothers on the trailer for 2015’s Hail Caesar.
03. Streaming above is debut extended-player Show Off What You Got, available for streaming and download from his Bandcamp. Meanwhile, brand-new single I Gotcha is streaming now on Spotify.
01. Recalling early death-metal, VIRCOLAC is the convergence of a number of Irish metal veterans.
02. Emerging in late 2013, the four-piece’s debut release, Codex Perfida, released in November of 2014 and promptly sold out of its limited CD and cassette releases.
03. Streaming above in its entirety is The Cursed Travails of the Demeter extended-player, released last Hallowe’en in a split release between Sepulchral Voice and Dark Descent Records. Also available for digital download and on CD, vinyl sold out.
04. Catch them at the Siege of Limerick all-dayer festival, this Sunday, alongside 20+ more Irish and international metal bands, across all three stages of Dolan’s in Limerick.
Thoughts: Peddling trenchant tales of the horrific and heinous, VIRCOLAC do so with genuine aplomb.
A longtime stalwart of Irish music radio, and fierce advocate of Irish artists, KCLR’s Roddie Cleere still keeps the home-fires burning every Sunday night.
Last week saw him put up a quick spiel about his beginnings in the 1980s scene, and it’s a bit of a time-capsule…
I was still very young, about 13/14 years old. I was never a fan of the whole showband scene that was so popular in Ireland. Me and my friends would spend our evenings listening to Radio Luxembourg or, if we were lucky, Radio Caroline.
Here, we would get to listen to bands like Cream, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones or anything that would take us away from the drone that was the showbands and their feeble attempts at the songs of the day.
When Thin Lizzy arrived we finally found a band we could call our own – they were Irish!
01. So, how many albums did you record and release by the time you were twenty-two years old? If the answer is “over 57”, you’re probably Cork-based Wirral man Laurie Shaw.
02. Having resided in Kenmare, where the surrounding atmosphere gave Shaw the space to create in such a rapid-fire fashion, he’s now in Cork city, with his band The Swamp People. Themes vary from love & non-league soccer to alternative soundtracks to popular TV dramas.
03. Streaming above is a preview of Shaw’s next album, The Great British Night Out. Recorded over Christmas, it’s releasing this week via his Bandcamp, and on super-limited handmade CD.
04. Catch Shaw live with The Swamp People on Thursday 13th at Gulpd Cafe in Cork, launching the album, his fifty-something-th full-length(?). No support act.
Thoughts: A musical renaissance man, Shaw moves between frames of pop-music reference with the greatest of ease. Once you get over having wasted your own teens and twenties by comparison, Shaw’s output is immensely enjoyable.
It’s been a good work for fans of decent irish hip-hop, with two big live gatherings getting releases over social media this week.
Write the shadowy enmascarado bosses from the Unscene:
Back in January we unleashed Mankyy’s ‘Character Development’ EP, a debut release perhaps most remarkable for its artistic maturity, not only on the production front but also from the assembled cast of young rappers Aswell, Jonen Dekay & Same D4Ence alongside the more grizzled vet Spekulativ Fiktion. A few weeks back we gathered for a post-release get together at Music Generation Limerick City HQ, here’s a taste of what went down. Big ups Stephen Savage on the vid!
Meanwhile, over at 2fm last week, Friday-night beatslinger Mo K. presented the second in his series of live on-air cyphers, featuring multi-man verbal throwdowns featuring Big Siyo, Ger Kellett, Nugget, Linco & Kreo Ghost. Streaming in its entirety above right now.
01. Big riffs and dirty bass-tones emerge from the most recent studio excursion from Cork-based trio Deep Sky Objects.
02. Having emerged a few years back, the band have been steadily gigging around Cork city, with the odd excursion home to Kerry, including last year’s K-Fest in Killorglin.
03. Streaming above is single Desire, the first in a series of monthly singles leading up to August, to be accompanied by UK and Irish summer touring.
04. Catch them at Whelan’s in Dubland on the 15th, and back in Cork city’s Brú Bar on the 22nd.
Thoughts: A tighter, more elastic take on stadium-filler indie/alt, sans the bullshit. Good hustle.
