A band from Belfast inspired by sea glass, bleached grass and ghost guitars. Belfast’s finest purveyors of sun-kissed jangle-pop Sea Pinks will mark 10 years in existence with a new EP. Arriving exactly a decade on from the Neil Brogan-fronted band’s debut single, ‘Japanese Knotwood’, it doubles up as an ending – an inexorable line drawn under the sand – for one of the country’s most prolific and consistently on-form bands.
On the heels of its title track, we’re pleased to present a first listen to the release’s new single ‘Running Down The Clock’. Sure enough, even at the eleventh hour, Sea Pinks are a band that sound like no other. Centering on the onward march of time, and our place within it, it’s a stellar six-minute effort from a band who are now officially on an indefinite hiatus.
Have a first listen to the track – and delve into a wonderfully insightful statement from Neil Brogan regarding the past, present and future of Sea Pinks. Ten years ago this week I uploaded the debut Sea Pinks single ‘Japanese Knotweed’ to Bandcamp. It was home-recorded using Garageband, a Vox Valvetronix amp, a Tascam 4 track of dubious origin, a badly detuned snare drum, and a newly acquired and heavily modified 1966 Fender Mustang, stripped of its original sonic blue by a previous owner to a crudely lacquered slab of alder. Something about the patina of that guitar made me want to write songs that recalled the era it came from and evoked the places it might have been to before it came to me. In short order, a clutch of songs sprang forth with very little summoning on my part, and I recorded as I went along, playing everything myself. That first album Youth is Wasted was made in the living room and box room of the house I was then renting off Woodstock road, east Belfast, between April and June 2010.
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This EP was recorded mostly live in a single one-day session in January this year, and I finished it during lockdown. I’ve now arrived at the point I always arrive at sooner or later, where I hit up against the familiar limitations of money and ability and CPU on my 2008 Macbook (maxed out to 8GB RAM) and finally admit defeat. The moment of release is always an exercise in damage limitation at some level.
I should acknowledge how totally lucky I’ve been to have this band in my life. I’ve played great shows with rooms full of people singing along, played with a ton of great bands, been to places I never would have been, and been lucky to be supported by amazing people, within the band and outside of it, throughout. There are too many of them to name here, but I hope the principals know who they are.
Maybe, when it’s ok to do so, we’ll play these songs for an audience. The recording date in January was actually the last time we were all in the same room together. All things considered it feels like the right time to put the band on indefinite hiatus. We’ve had a good run and ten years feels like a nice round number to draw a line under. But then again, I’ve tried to draw a line under this band before.
To those who have attended a gig, bought a record, put up wth us on social media etc – thank you all for your support and enjoyment of our music over the past decade. Neil Brogan.
releases July 3rd, 2020
Sea Pinks:
Neil Brogan – Guitar, Vocals, Keyboard
Davey Agnew – Drums
Gary Cummins – Bass
Recorded at Start Together, Belfast, January 2020
The Fat Angel Sings 