Possibly timed to coincide with last night’s season 2 premiere of Better Call Saul, this musical tribute to Breaking Bad by John D. ‘Melodysheep’ Boswell uses samples of the characters’ dialogue, with Jessie’s trademark wealth descriptor as the chorus.
September Girls – Love No One
What you may need to know…
01. Dublin-based shoegaze/psychedelia specialists take off the gloves with upcoming album Age of Indignation: bolstering their increasingly raw, garagey sound, the five-piece tackle everything from feminism, to religion, to Irish life as we know it at present. Heavyweight stuff, to say the very least.
02. Named for a Big Star song, the band came together in 2011, and immediately proceeded on a number of single and split releases via various labels, before settling with UK indie pillar Fortuna POP! for debut album Cursing the Sea. The band signed with Brooklyn indie label Kanine Records for their subsequent Veneer EP, co-released with Fortuna.
03. The British press are all over the quintet. From the Guardian and the Sunday Times, to the NME and the sadly-departed The Fly, praise was everywhere for their debut LP. Time magazine, no less, deigned them among the 11 best new bands in the world in 2014. Lofty expectations to exceed a second time around, especially off the back of appearances at SXSW and Liverpool Psych Fest.
04. Jaw on the Floor, inspired both by the 1916 Rising and early feminism in Ireland, features the album’s only big vocal cameo: Oliver Ackermann, of the equally excellent A Place to Bury Strangers.
05. The album, released April 8 and followed by an upcoming Irish tour, continues in this vein, taking aim at social media, modernity and the legacy of the Catholic church in Ireland. Love No-One (above), deals with narcissism in the modern day.
Verdict: Their upward trajectory has been frightening, and they look set to provide the tempestuous, confrontational agit-pop that our generation has been sorely lacking, hopefully opening up as many conversations about the issues at hand in Ireland as their reverbed-up, boxcutter noise.
They’re out at it, again.
Electioneering is rife, and amid all the false promises and fiscal space invasions, Dublin’s premiere observers of the sterility of Irish modernity are releasing a new tune.
Shrug Life, who impressed with strident yet sarky EP The Grand Stretch last year, continue in their wry mode of gentle agit-pop with new single Making Progress, streaming in the widget above.
Sez the lads, ahead of a gig in Dubland on Thursday:
Evoking the rabble rousing spirit of The Jam and the black humour of The Smiths, ‘Making Progress’ is fuelled by the uncertainty and false promise of electioneering Ireland.
Produced by Fiachra McCarthy (Squarehead, Dott, So Cow) and mastered by Mark Chester (Ginnels, Paddy Hanna), the song is available as a free download from the band’s Soundcloud and Bandcamp pages (links below)
Shrug Life will also play Dublin’s Bernard Shaw to celebrate the release this Thursday at 9pm. With a capacity of 80, and free entry, get there (very) early
Rabid Bitch of the North – Green Eyes
What you may need to know…
1. Belfast’s Rabid Bitch of the North trade exclusively in a falsetto-laden, old-school strain of thrash metal, with pockmarks of the genre’s NWOBHM predecessors for good measure. Precisely zero fecks are given at any point for your opinion on the matter.
2. Green Eyes is out now via Greek label Alone Records, on the hallowed medium of 7″ vinyl, with an accompanying woven patch (for your battle jacket) also available. The suitably retro video (above) was directed and edited by Full Scope Films.
3. They’re great craic live, in fairness. We caught them at an installment of the Siege of Limerick all-dayer a while back and had fun. Their lean, tight, power-trio setup just does their tunes justice.
4. They’re supporting American metal legends Argus at On The Rox in Dubland on March 13, alongside heavy-metal traditionalists Stereo Nasty. Tickets €15 on the door with merch stalls on the night.
Verdict: While possibly not everyone’s cup of tay, even in the preponderously fractured & diverse world of metal and its derivatives, there’s no knocking RBOTN’s dedication to providing a decent dose of unassuming, unpretentious thrash. Fair balls.
Talos – In Time
What you may need to know…
1. In case you missed it last week, Cork-based electronic-pop pinup songsmith Eoin French, aka Talos, dropped his much-anticipated new single In Time over at Nialler9’s blog.
2. Big, big things await the architecture tutor with a penchant for sweet vocals and spacey, shoegazing sensibilities, after a 2014/5 that saw singles Tethered Bones and Bloom take flight in a serious fashion, leading to myriad festival appearances all over Ireland and Europe, including Eurosonic in the Netherlands.
3. The video is directed and edited by longtime collaborator Feel Good Lost, also responsible for the strong visual identity of Cork Scandipop bedfellows Young Wonder, and recently directing videos for All Tvvins and Le Galaxie. One of Ireland’s most influential creative professionals.
4. Firmly established on the independent Irish music scene, Talos is looking set to go mainstream this year, getting the come-to-bed eyes from Hot Press in their recent Hottie awards/reader poll. He scooped two nominations, one for Best Song, the other for Most Promising Artist.
Verdict: Broadsheet recently saw the live configuration of the project play Quarter Block Party in Cork. He gets better every time we see him, but there’s some heavy-duty backup, including live cellos. Catch him live now, before he blows up properly.
T-Woc – Jetstar Vol. II E.P.
Here’s what you might need to know:
1. Producer from Wicklow releasing through Limerick’s The Unscene label, responsible for putting out some of the cream of Irish hip-hop in recent years.
2. Wonky, bassy, dubby instrumental hip-hop with a gentle tinge of psychedelia and noise. “On a bit more of a tropical tip these days”, says himself.
3. Supported Eek-A-Mouse on Irish tour, and has produced an acclaimed mix for All City Records, among other things.
4. New E.P. Jetstar Vol. II came out this week on The Unscene’s Bandcamp page, available for streaming and download in the platform’s usual ridiculous array of formats.
5. This release was preceded with the first ever press release your writer has ever received that has been written entirely in the form of dialogue.
Verdict: Dig in. Quality, quirky, dubby instrumentalness that’s well worth a lash.
Batnum & Loah – Take it
What you may need to know
1. Bantum, aka Ruairí Lynch, is an exiled Corkman living and producing in Dubland. His 2013 magnum opus ‘Legion‘ is among the best Irish electronic/pop records committed to wax in recent years. A consistent releaser of singles/EPs with unreleased B-side material, too, a rarity in this day and age.
2. Loah, an Irish/Sierra Leonean vocalist tipped for big things by Irish music blogs like Goldenplec and The Thin Air, puts in an absolutely breathtaking vocal, layered with beautiful harmonies. We’re eagerly awaiting her debut EP this year.
3. This stunning video was directed by Peter O’Brien, produced by Motherland, and features dancer Laura Sarah Dowdall. No lighting was used bar the street light seen here.
4. True to form, the digital download and Spotify stream comes with a stripped-down ‘blues mix’ as a b-side/bonus track.
5. Bantum used to live with Keith from Limerick two-piece giveamanakick, which is class when you think about it.
Verdict: A major step forward for two of Ireland’s most talented artists.
https://vimeo.com/154038415
A feature on the making of Dom&Nic’s extraordinary Ex Machina inspired video for ‘Wide Open’ by The Chemical Brothers, brought to life by The Mill.
(H/T: Oisín)
