01. When not garnering loving glances from the Irish music press, Belfast singer-songwriter Rory Nellis is also the frontman of Belfast indie lads Seven Summits.
02. Having debuted formally with 2014 extended-player The Moon, Nellis’ solo run kicked off in earnest in 2015 with crowdfunded long-player Ready For You Now.
03. Streaming above is Nellis’ new single Casual Discrimination, an earthy riposte to the hardening of empathy in the current climate. Also available for free download.
04. It’s taken from upcoming solo record There Are Enough Songs in the World, releasing in November of this year.
Thoughts: A grand, uke-flecked piece of indie-friendly folk pop that sets the tone nicely for Nellis’ next long-player.
01. Promising Cork psych/gaze/pop outfit Catacombs called time on their brief run last week via social media, after a year’s absence from live activity.
02. They’d been steadily gigging around Leeside, around the smaller venues, sharing stages with lo-fi pop outfits like No Monster Club and HAGS, among others.
03. Streaming above is last single Glow, thrown up on YouTube as a parting shot.
04. For those of you fond of nineties-esque jangles and fuzz, their handful of demos and singles are available here.
Thoughts: A warm note to finish on, erring on the homelier side of indie/pop as opposed to getting lost in reverb and awash with psychedelia.
01. Post-hardcore, indie, emo, and so forth: signifiers seem to make less difference to Tipp outfit The Winter Passing and their pristine pop as time goes on.
02. Having paid their dues over the past five years with endless Irish and UK touring, solo and in support of touring acts, the band last year released their debut albumA Different Space of Mind.
03. Streaming above is the band’s new single, Significance, coming from the band’s upcoming E.P. Double Exposure, releasing through Big Scary Monsters in the U.K. in April.
04. Says guitarist Rob Flynn to DIY Magazine on the E.P.:
”This record is a lot more personal than any of our previous work. The songs touch on mental health and well-being themes, a central point being the anxiety caused by stability and instability in your life and dealing with your ability to ‘be ok’. This time the writing is more personal to each of us individually, and from a new stand-point in each other’s lives in comparison to ‘A Different Space of Mind’.”
Thoughts: Strident yet sensitive. Inspiring in its honesty, The Winter Passing’s perseverance is reaping its just reward.
01. Aiding the seeming Irish alt-rock revival along are power trio Bitch Falcon.
02. Last we checked in with the band, they’d premiered single Clutch via Nialler9, since released on all digital outlets.
03. Streaming above is the video for same, released yesterday. Directed by Spiceburger, it plays on the band’s indomitable stage presence in a skewed take on the performance vid.
04. The band are going on a full national tour to support the new single, including dates in Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Portlaoise, Leap, Dublin and Castlebar. Full itinerary in the pic above..
Thoughts: A bold visual, accompanying a band kicking off the grunge shackles and tearing into something noisier and more grandiose.
Neon Atlas – indie-poppers preparing third full-length
What you may need to know…
01. Neon Atlas are an indie/alternative/pop power-trio from Cork City.
02. Emerging in the early part of the decade, the band released debut effort Absolute Magnitude in 2013, and followed up in 2015 with sophomore platter Graffiti Reality.
03. Streaming above is new single The Afterglow, released last night via Soundcloud and available for download from iTunes from March 2nd, ahead of the release later this year of their as-yet untitled third full-length.
04. A run of national touring to support the single begins on Saturday February 18th, with a hometown date at the Crane Lane Theatre.
Thoughts: Good, honest, indie-pop with that certain brightness that seems to be in the water in Cork-based guitar pop.
01. Returning from a prolonged hiatus are Leeside live faves of the mid-late aughts, pop/heft outfit Elk.
02. Releasing debut album We Should Start Our Own Gang in early 2009, the lads went quiet shortly thereafter, re-emerging live periodically, including for the launch of a split 7″ single with Crayonsmith in 2011. It’s been a busy few years, with the boys keeping the fires burning in, offhand, No Spill Blood, Hands Up Who Wants to Die, All Tvvins and Guilty Optics.
03. That long-player of theirs is streaming above, and available for free download via Bandcamp.
04. Elk return on Saturday night at Tivoli Backstage in Dublin, supporting GUILTY OPTICS alongside Ten Past Seven. Ridiculous lineup.
Thoughts: Straightforward pop lurches into dreamy sounds, lurches back out into heft and distortion. Something for everyone, and a welcome return.
01. Folk-laden alternative drawn from personal experience is the order of the day for Dublin singer-songwriter Ailbhe Reddy.
02. Getting a start in 2014, she first drew attention from a wider audience after her tune Cover Me appeared across radio, while first single Flesh and Blood garnered good reviews and song-of-the-day features across the UK and Irish blogosphere.
03. Debut E.P. Hollowed Out Sea released this year, with production from Sacred Animals‘ Darragh Nolan. Streaming above is the video single Distrust.
04. Reddy is among the artists in the running for the fan vote to co-headline Other Voices and appear on the RTÉ TV show of the same name, alongside Jafaris, Meltybrains?, BARQ and Basciville. Vote here.
Verdict: Reddy clearly has the knack for big songwriting, but it’s tempered with a certain elegance that makes it all the more intriguing.
01. The return of Waterford singer/composer Katie Sullivan, a.k.a. Katie Kim, has been two years in the making, and comes four years after previous full-length Cover and Flood.
02. Debuting in 2008 with full-length Twelve, recorded after a virus wiped fifty existing finished songs from Sullivan’s PC, she quickly made a name for sparse, lo-fi alt-tinged folk in PJ Harvey vein. 2012’s Cover and Flood continued to flesh out her vision.
03. Streaming above is Sullivan’s newly-released long-player SALT. Available now on vinyl from independent record retailers around the country, and digitally via Bandcamp and Spotify.
04. Having launched the record at The Unitarian in Dublin a few days ago, upcoming launch dates remain on October 31st at The Loft in Reyjavik (for our Iceland-based readers), and December 3rd at St. Patrick’s Gateway in Waterford.
Verdict: The realisation of the sound and vision that’s undoubtedly been brewing in Sullivan’s work over all this time. A haunting, reverb-laden missive.
01. As synonymous with the real capital’s culture as Tanora, Roy Keane, and music journalists reaching for lazy, obvious cultural touchstones in articles about the city the English Market, The Frank and Walters are one of the quintessential Cork bands, formed in 1990 and named after two local eccentrics of the day.
02. Success found the indie-pop outfit quickly, signing for Setanta in 1991 and releasing EP1.EP2, featuring the enduring Fashion Crisis Hits New York, shortly followed. Following EP Happy Busman, debut album Trains, Boats and Planes hit the UK album chart, with single After All hitting number 11 on the UK singles chart and number 5 in the Irish singles chart.
03. Taking a sabbatical after a busy few years, the band returned in the mid-nineties and have been gigging and releasing records at a steady clip ever since. Having celebrated their 25th anniversary last year with a sellout performance at Cork Opera House (pictured above), the band is currently readying new album Songs for the Walking Wounded for release via drummer Ashley Keating’s FIFA Records.
04. Streaming above is the band’s new single, We Are the Young Men, released ahead of the album’s launch at the Cork Opera House on April 15th. In support are reunited Cork indie group Rubyhorse and The Smiths’ Mike Joyce on DJ duties.
Verdict: A seemingly jaunty, jangly tune, layered with subtle sarcasm (a Franks specialty) and casting a somewhat cold eye on youthful exuberance. Great stuff from a band that’s stood the test of time.
