There are some bands that feel placeless, their music not tied to any one city, country or scene. Others, though, feel intrinsically linked to where they’re from, the streets and sights they’ve grown up on as much a part of their DNA as the artists whose music they’ve absorbed to make their own. Cork four-piece Cliffords very much fall into the latter category: Ireland’s second-largest city subtly weaves its way into the lyrics, melodies and perspectives that make up the band’s majestic take on indie.
Although it’s still early days for Cliffords, their story so far reads like one of a group destined to do something big. They formed in 2020 after being inspired by the 2016 film Sing Street and, following some fluctuating line-ups, played their first gig two years later at University College Cork’s battle of the bands. Despite their inexperience on stage, they emerged victorious – early recognition of their potential.
Since then, they’ve cemented their line-up with Lynch, guitarist Harry Menton, keyboardist Locon O’Toole and bassist/trumpeter Gavin Dawkins, and begun to earn a reputation as a band who could be their country’s – and certainly their city’s – next great export.
It’s there in ‘R&H Hall’, the jagged opening track of their recently released second EP ‘Salt Of The Lee’. The song is named after an animal feed company, whose now-demolished grain silos once stood tall on Cork’s skyline, its storyline beginning in the rubble. It rears its head on the heady ‘Feels Like A Man’, from 2024 debut EP ‘Strawberry Scented’, as singer/guitarist Iona Lynch recalls being led up the city’s steep St Patrick’s Hill by an intoxicating partner. ‘Salt Of The Lee’s title – borrowed from a lyric from ‘Bittersweet’ – nods to the river that runs through Cork. “It’s a freshwater river, so I thought that was funny,” smiles Lynch. “There’s no salt in The Lee.
“Everything I write is informed by my surroundings,” she nods between sips of iced coffee in a bustling Brighton café. Lynch and her bandmates have momentarily decamped to the English seaside to play its annual new music festival, The Great Escape, but during our conversation, home is never far away. “It’s the place where I fell in love with music,” she continues, growing more animated as she speaks.
“When I was a teenager, the bands that I thought were the most famous and coolest were local Cork bands. I wanted to turn 18 to go to [local venue] Fred Zeppelins to see them.” When the band eventually got to be a part of their local scene, it was everything Lynch had wanted: “There were about two years that, to me, were like gold dust – beautiful times when we were all out all the time with all these bands playing.”
Talk to them for any length of time and you’ll soon realise that they share a dedication to and a love of being in a band that will be vital in helping them achieve that.
The Fat Angel Sings 