Posts Tagged ‘Ireland’

PILLOW QUEENS – ” In Waiting “

Posted: November 6, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“In Waiting” is Pillow Queens’ debut album, the result of four years of brotherly love in a sisterly unit from Ireland’s most urgent, yearning, rock band. Crafted from our lives, and honed in a studio in rural Donegal in the northwest of Ireland, this is a record by queens in waiting and kings in the making. It’s an album about love; self-love, queer love, the anxiety- inducing fault lines of romantic love, and the love for a city and a country that simultaneously has your back and is on your back. For fans of early PJ Harvey, Waxahatchee and Hop Along.

‘In Waiting’ couldn’t have come at a better time for the band. The album was mostly finished just before the pandemic hit. They were kept busy over lockdown with the final mastering and admin. Creating their own label meant spending lockdown doing a lot of paperwork to get their “ducks in a row”. I was very excited when the Pillow Queens announced their debut album last year. I think they really embody a message of female power and fun. Tracks from this record are always wiggling their way on to my playlists. Pillow Queens stand loud and proud on the shoulders of so many amazing female artists that have paved the way for women in music and so many artists that I love. Plus I just think they are so bloody cool. I’m psyched to catch them live at the next possible opportunity.

Pillow Queens have truly captured lightning in a bottle. All the magic and energy of their live performances is maintained in this recording, while softer and more intimate moments are spread throughout adding an intense range of emotions while maintaining their distinctive sound. In particular, the transition from “HowDoILook” into “Liffey” took my breath away on my first listen, and continues to give me chills to this day. Cannot recommend this album enough.

A year after same-sex marriage was made legal in Ireland, Sarah Corcoran, Pamela Connolly, Cathy McGuinness, and Rachel Lyons formed Pillow Queens: an all-queer DIY outfit named for a slang term referencing somebody who takes more than they give in bed. Unafraid to tackle thorny subjects like politics and religion, the quartet dropped its debut EP Calm Girls in 2016 and its debut album In Waiting last year. Cloaked in catchy choruses, both works are equally pugnacious and anthemic, as fun to blare with the windows rolled down as they are substantive. 

All songs written and performed by Pillow Queens.

Pillow Queens are a 4-piece from Dublin, Ireland. Their debut album ‘In Waiting’ the debut album was released September 25th

JUST MUSTARD – ” Wednesday “

Posted: August 29, 2021 in MUSIC
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Wednesday

If walls of noise clattering against lethargic bass and squalling feedback gets your blood pumping then have a listen to this album of sludgy shoegaze loveliness.

There are touches of Jesus & Mary Chain waves of sound, c86 atmosphere and young marble giants moods. what stands out more than the touch points though is the space the music inhabits – at once broad scope yet claustrophobic, it’s a masterpiece in creating the same haunted industrial space that early new order made so well. we’re hooked – this band are going to go far with a sound like this.

Just Mustard already garnered a ton of acclaim in their homeland upon the release of their debut album Wednesday, but it took a little longer for word of mouth to drift across the Atlantic. Fittingly, their best songs — like their latest single “Seven” — function like storms approaching off the sea. They exist in the eerie moment when you feel the air shift and tighten: Warped guitar screeches suggest destruction on the horizon, and Katie Ball’s ghostly vocals a siren song calling you into it.

Dundalk’s shoegaze champions Just Mustard are quietly amassing a stellar reputation for bewitching live performances. The band have enjoyed a surge in popularity since the release of “Wednesday” in 2018, which was nominated for the Choice Music Award. Subsequent releases, like ‘October’ in May, have seen the group further hone their shoegaze sound with elements of trip-hop and garage rock.

NEW DAD – ” Waves ” EP

Posted: April 24, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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NewDad emerged from Galway at the beginning of last year, self-releasing their first string of songs. The Waves EP is their debut EP and features the BBC 6Music A-list singles “I Don’t Recognise You” and “Blue”. The six track EP is available on limited edition clear vinyl on Fair Youth. Our fifth single ‘I Don’t Recognise You’ !!.

NewDad are from Galway, Ireland. Consisting of Julie Dawson, Áindle O’Beirn, Sean O’Dowd, and Fiachra Parslow, NewDad have been making music since their high school days, and have been releasing tracks for the past two years. They all went to the same high school, and formed ultimately because we needed something to do for final exams. Sean was a year above us, and was studying music tech in college, so we made music demos together, and the rest is history. This was our first time recording in a proper studio. We did “Blue”, “I Don’t Recognise You”, and “Slowly” on our own as demos. Then, with those demos and the remaining tracks, we got to use the studio space with pedals, and various other bells and whistles – for “I Don’t Recognise You”, specifically, we even got to use a mellophone!.

The band’s sound is described as feedback-drenched guitars meets incredible pop melodies, and is resonant of Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, and Sharon Van Etten. “The band oozes personality with cynical but honest lyrics, colourful visual components, and poignant messages about coping with the (albeit painful) formative experiences,” Bloggers have recently wrote in further praising vocalist Julie Dawson “whose spunk can be heard just by the way she breathes.”

It’s really blossoming at the minute. There’s been a lot more attention on music coming out of Ireland with bands like Fontaines D.C.. Even in Galway there’s a really good Punk band called The Turnstiles. Irish people have such a unique perspective being from a tiny island that has remained pretty insular, yet very kind hearted, so it’s really a new sound as well. For so long Irish music focused on outside influences from the US and the UK but now it’s culminated with Irish culture into its own thing. We feel proud to be Irish and considered amongst all these amazing artists, finally able to breakout.

NewDad emerged from Galway at the beginning of last year, self-releasing their first string of songs. The Waves EP is their debut EP and features the BBC 6Music A-list singles “I Don’t Recognise You” and “Blue”.

The six track EP is available on limited edition clear vinyl on Fair Youth.

 

SPRINTS – ” Manifesto ” EP

Posted: April 12, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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This is exciting sound. Dublin four-piece Sprints continue their burst out of the starter blocks with their debut EP, ’Manifesto’. Produced by Girl Band’s Daniel Fox, it is a thrilling ride that more than lives up to the band’s name and threatens to rip up the new punk landscape once again.

The more the opening track ‘Drones’ builds and builds in rage and self-doubt, the more it is inescapable. Packed full of interesting textures, the Girl Band influence is strong with clangs and yes, drones dropped in throughout but that is to take nothing away from Sprints themselves. “You’re getting better and I’m getting bitter” spits Karla Chubb from the depths of imposter syndrome. Pumped up and bristling with rage at a world where pleasure pursuits are prioritised for funding over critical social issues, ‘Swimming’ flirts with IDLES’ thunderstorm style before soaring off in a different direction while the previously unheard ‘Ashley’ roars along an untethered Marmozets. It’s a thrilling, exciting glimpse into the future.

Every time it feels like saturation point has been reached within the scene, someone new comes along to tear all that up. Sure, we’ve heard three-quarters of this EP already but when you slot it together like this, Sprints feel like they could very well be the next band that reshapes the landscape.

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Released March 26th, 2021

Released via Nice Swan Records.

The SPRINTS – ” Swimming “

Posted: March 8, 2021 in MUSIC
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The riff to this track is EXPLOSIVE! Here we have the awesome post-punk band Sprints from Dublin, offering us an action packed and mighty single, which also includes some really well put together lyrics. Sprints sound tight but incredibly wild, which allows this song to be so much fun but still filled with punk attitude. This is a wicked live version of the song, that shows off their worth as the performance is incredibly impressive and fun!.

Sprints embody our favourite sounds right now. Brimming with presence and intention, “Swimming” is a raucous introduction to one of the most intriguing post punk acts active. Their energy reminds us how much we miss live music. We covered them before, and they only seem to get sharper, grittier, and tighter with each track we hear. In genres like these, it is easy to coast – losing your edge along the way. But if the past twelve months have given us anything, it is plenty of reasons to smoulder intensely. Sprints knows the time in which they live and they capture it beautifully and with precision.

Sprints blew the roof off the Button Factory when they played TiLT a few months ago. Here is their track ‘Swimming’! Massive thanks to Sprints & all involved! Tilt Dublin, Sound Training Productions, Totally Irish 98FM Button Factory. Keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks for many, many more!

Sprints (Karla, Colm, Jack and Sam) from Dublin in Ireland.

SPRINTS – ” The Cheek / Drone “

Posted: December 31, 2020 in MUSIC
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Sprints are another band leading the charge of thrilling post-punk originating from Dublin. Led by frontwoman Karla Chubb, their ferocious brand of punk is packed with hooks and tonnes of attitude, while recent release Drones suggests they’re about to take a darker direction.

Dublin-based four piece, Sprints are the latest new act to emerge from the city fast becoming one of the most prolific places for hot new bands. Similarly with the recent success of other locals Fontaines DC, Girl Band & Silverbacks – Sprints are set to be the latest in line ready to burst out of the city.

Their creative process is very much rooted to the everyday goings on around them. And just like a true garage band, write and rehearse in their village home’s back garden shed. Taking things to the next level, they were quick to team up with Girl Band’s Daniel Fox who has been producing them in his studio. Drawing influence from the likes of Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, The Strokes and LCD Soundsystem. There is a fun, energetic and retro feel to what they do. But very much sounding as fresh and exciting as their local peers.

Sprints’ singer Karla Chubb sounds like she’s about to give someone a black eye on thunderous anthem ‘The Cheek’ – this is venomous and versatile rock’n’roll. Much like their fellow Dubliners Girl Band and Silverbacks, Sprints are also fully committed to their craft through their blood, sweat and tears approach. ‘The Cheek’ attacks dated attitudes around sexuality while ‘Drones’ looks inwardly at feelings of imposter syndrome. The constant is that they continue to deliver pure and riveting statements, setting them well on course towards future raucous, beer-soaked headline festival sets.

They’re signed to Nice Swan Records, home to some other great bands Sports Team, Malady, Pip Blom, Courting and Hotel Lux. Great company indeed! Give me some Sprints tracks like “Drones”, “The Cheek”

BITCH FALCON – ” Staring at Clocks “

Posted: December 3, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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There’s a lot of effective rock music on Bitch Falcon’s long-awaited debut album “Staring At Clocks” moving between atmospheric guitar pedal-assisted sounds and ripping low-end. ‘Turned To Gold’ is my favourite previously-unheard song from the Dublin band’s record.  Bitch Falcon; is a name you won’t forget and a band who won’t let you forget them. This trio from the vibrant, much-hyped music scene of Dublin was formed by front-woman Lizzie Fitzpatrick with her friends in a small kitchen in the city in 2014. Since these freshman days, the line-up has galvanised around the rhythm section of Barry O’Sullivan on Bass and Nigel Kenny on Drums. This is a band that is growing in stature with every release and I want to be part of it. The song writing is very interesting. Very nice bass sound!

BITCH FALCON are a name you will not forget, and a band who will not let you forget them. The acclaimed dream-grunge three-piece have announced their debut LP, “Staring At Clocks”, to be released 6th November via Small Pond Records

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Released November 6th, 2020

PILLOW QUEENS – ” In Waiting “

Posted: October 25, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“Resonant and rapturous, the band finds a way to channel their thoughts on the world around them through precision indie rock songwriting that builds into swelling, cathartic choruses” – KEXP

In Waiting. Waiting for futures to be carved out, for missions to be complete, for communities to be solidified, for the security denied to a generation to return. Waiting for the empathic revolution. Waiting for the end of capitalism, and the start of something real and fair. Waiting for spin to die and authenticity to be valued. Waiting for lost loves to return and fumbled relationships to form, for small cracks in families to heal and bigger cracks in inequitable systems to break.

You’re in waiting a long time. And then you just have to do it yourself.

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In Waiting is Pillow Queens’ debut album, the result of four years of brotherly love in a sisterly unit from Ireland’s most urgent, yearning, rock band. Crafted from our lives, and honed in a studio in rural Donegal in the northwest of Ireland, this is a record by queens in waiting and kings in the making.

It’s an album about love; self-love, queer love, the anxiety-inducing faultlines of romantic love, and the love for a city and a country that simultaneously has your back and is on your back. It’s an album about the in-between; the transitionary period of an adulthood that never seems to arrive, while you wait for that lightbulb moment when everything makes sense, even though part of you knows deep down it will never come.

It’s an album about the purgatorial aspect of late-stage capitalism, where the systems conspire to burden and punish; job insecurity, housing crises, income inequality, and social inequity. It’s an album about family; chosen, given, received and earned. It’s an album about spirituality; from the engrained confines of religion, to the expanding borders of spirituality, and the iconography and ritual that populates the emotional interior of anyone who grows up in Ireland.

It’s about resilience of the politics of the self and belief in the power of art. The wounded deers leap highest. 

released September 25th, 2020

All songs written and performed by Pillow Queens.

The MURDER CAPITAL – ” Live from London: The Dome, Tufnell Park ” Record Store Day 2020

Posted: August 19, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Irish rockers The Murder Capital have been building quite a bit of momentum overseas both back at home in Ireland and in the U.K. as well. They released their debut album “When I Have Fears” last year to mass critical acclaim (it was one of our best-albums-of-2019>favourites of the year and now it’s time for the band to have their moment here in the U.S., where they are about to embark on their first-ever North American tour. The Murder Capital released their debut album When I Have Fears on their own label Human Season Records to much critical claim in August of 2019.The band played a string of headlining shows around Europe and the UK and this 45rpm 12″ highlights the broody “Love, Love, Love” and “On Twisted Ground” from their show at The Dome, Tufnell Park in London from October 2019.

The band’s drummer Diarmuid Brennan told us one day before they played their biggest hometown show to date. We talked about the early days of the band, their process, how they bring it live every night, and how grief helped shaped their debut album. You guys are currently in Dublin preparing for your biggest headlining show to date. How are you feeling before the show?
Yeah that’s right. Good! Just landed back in Dublin, we flew over from the U.K. So we are just at Grogans now on South William Street, just meeting up with some mates. But yeah, just staying relaxing about it to be honest. It’s obviously a big one as it’s a Dublin show, Dublin shows are always big, they get us very excited. But yeah I’ll get excited maybe a couple of minutes before we go on.

New album When I Have Fears available 16th August

recordstore day

BITCH FALCON – ” Staring at Clocks “

Posted: August 7, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Bitch Falcon; a name you won’t forget and a band who won’t let you forget them. This trio from the vibrant, much-hyped music scene of Dublin was formed by front-woman Lizzie Fitzpatrick with her friends in a small kitchen in the city in 2014. Since these freshman days, the line-up has galvanised around the rhythm section of Barry O’Sullivan on Bass and Nigel Kenny on Drums, Here’s some behind the scenes footage of the making of Gaslight. It was shot in Dublin over the course of a very quick day at Mill Studio, Dublin 8.

Dublin alt-rock trio Bitch Falcon exploded onto the Irish music scene in 2014. They quickly established themselves on the live circuit through the intensity of their performances, with the snarling vocals and pulsating riffs of lead singer and guitarist Lizzie Fitzpatrick announcing a new sound in Irish rock. Hard-hitting debut single ‘Wolfstooth’ encapsulated the raw energy of their live shows and brought the band to a wider national audience. During 2015 and 2016 Bitch Falcon’s evolving sound fused together the strongest elements of rock, grunge, metal, hardcore and melodic electro-pop. Follow-up singles ‘Syncope’, ‘TMJ’, ‘Clutch’ and ‘Of Heart’ registered this development and garnered increasing critical acclaim for the band in Ireland and the UK.

Bitch Falcon have honed the frenzy of their live show over the past few years, completing several headline Irish tours along with performing at all the major Irish festivals including Electric Picnic, Other Voices, Body&Soul, Castlepalooza, and Sea Sessions. The trio have shared the stage with an impressive array of international acts including Fucked Up, Torche, Girl Band, Sleeping With Sirens, The ZZZ’s, Glen Hansard, Fontaines D.C. and Les Butcherettes. Their increasing popularity meanwhile has seen them begin to make an impact in North America, with the band recently packing rooms in Toronto, Montreal and Los Angeles but it is the UK that has developed a serious appetite for the band. They have travelled the length and breadth of the country and most recently have begun their assault on UK festivals such as The Great Escape, Y Not, Teddy Rocks and 2000 Trees.

Releases November 4th, 2020
Band members:
Vox/Guitar – Lizzie Fitzpatrick Bass –  Drums – Nigel Kenny

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