Few live acts are as capable of recreating the feeling of watching the napalm invasion from Apocalypse Now as this Irish quartet, whose megaphoned shrieks, guitar squalls, bass bombs, and drums of death combine for a uniquely visceral and violent experience.
Formed four years ago, Girl Band (Adam Faulkner, Daniel Fox, Dara Kiely, Alan Duggan) have taken their time to get to this point, but the truism of good things coming. Much has been made of Girl Band’s influences. With touchstones such as Washington DC hardcore act Bad Brains, New York’s No Wave scenesters James Chance and the Contortions, and Britain’s Chemical Brothers and The Fall, there is firm evidence here of musicians that have checked out the majority of other Irish acts and found them lacking in grit and adventure. There really is no other Irish band around at the moment that can channel No Wave disharmony as well as Girl Band, but what distinguishes them on record, as on stage, is a subtle sense of melody that infiltrates everything they do.
Why They’re Not bigger they’ve created one sublime LP of noise-rock cacophony Holding Hands With Jamie and one collected EP of nihilist-disco superjams The Early Years, but the album that fully integrates their strengths into one nation-leveling masterwork will be what puts them over the top.
Their finest moment to date The eight-minute cover of Blawan’s “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage,” making a brilliantly inscrutable post-garage banger even more perplexing and enthralling
The Fat Angel Sings 