Single of the Week: Slow Riot with ‘Pink December’
With a whiff of The Smiths about them art-rock three-piece Slow Riot return with new track ‘Pink December’,released February 13. ‘Pink December’ offers a tantalising glimpse of a new sound being forged in the band’s Limerick rehearsal space. The signature deadpan vocal delivery and motorik driving bass remain, but gone is the athletic, lean post-punk in its place we find layers of dense guitars, tribal drums, and half-heard backing vocals slowly unveiling themselves as the single progresses. Says vocalist Niall Clancy: “Sonically it’s our most satisfying Slow Riot track. At the core of a lot of our songs are some pretty intense themes and rather than just hint at those through the lyrics we wanted to drag them to the surface through the whole atmosphere of the song”. Regular producer Kevin Vanbergen (The Pixies, The Maccabees, Dinosaur Pile-Up, The La’s and Biffy Clyro)was again at the helm of this production, steering the creation of this intoxicating atmosphere. Slow Riot are now in writing material for their debut album, for release later this year. Check out their new website here Listen to ‘Pink December’...
Video of the Week: Bitch Falcon ‘Clutch’
Releasing their first material in a year Dublin trio Bitch Falcon enter 2017 unapologetically with new single ‘Clutch’. An introspective look at intrusive thoughts, this four-minute distillation of the band’s volatile-yet-hypnotic sound introduces new elements in the form of electronic textures and synth-based layers. Recorded at Orphan Recording Studios and Asylum Studios/Bow Lane over a two-day period, ‘Clutch’ was engineered and mixed by Robin Ball, who previously worked with the band on ‘Wolfstooth’ and ‘Breed’. Fergal Davis handled mastering duties, following on from his work on ‘TMJ’. Directed and produced by Allyn Quigly of Spice Burger the video contains 90’s references including Nirvana and Skunk Anansie utlising Lizzie Fitzpatrick’s energy and physical performance to capture the mood of the single. According to Quigly “For this, we always knew we wanted to do something performance based. Even though we’d never done anything like this before we felt Lizzie’s stage presence was just too powerful not to take full advantage of. From here we met with the band, chatted about some of the meaning and inspiration behind the song as well as 90’s music videos that had an early impact on them. We developed an idea based around two opposing forces. The first represents a kind of external pressure with various images that give a sense of suffocation and constriction; of pushing and breaking through a bond. We then mixed this with a second thread that communicated a kind of internal energy. A visual representation of that internal rage. In this world, Lizzie was able to move without resistance, just pure, uninhibited energy. As the video progresses these two things push and pull against one another more and more to give what we hope is a spin on a traditional performance piece that’s a little abstract and a little visceral.” Catch Bitch Falcon at the following shows February 10 – Central Arts – Waterford February 11 – Kavanagh’s Pub – Portlaoise February 16 – Roisin Dubh – Galway February 18 – Dolan’s Warehouse – Limerick (supporting Redneck Manifesto) February 25 – Workman’s – Dublin March 10 – Connolly’s – Leap March 11 – Cyprus Avenue – Cork Watch ‘Clutch’...
Bobby Green indulges in The New 52’s new single ‘Good Intentions’
Review by Bobby Green Darragh Cullen has had a lot to live up to since he was named ‘Male solo artist of the year 2010’ by Hot Press and described as “one of the country’s most promising young songwriters”. But these accolades he has taken in his stride and it seems like his feet are firmly planted on the ground. And now 7 years later he is still producing the quality music his promise showed many moons ago. Good Intentions was written by Darragh and Boo Hewerdine, who produced the band’s current album Let Me Sleep Darragh explains “This is the first song I co-wrote with Boo, in his song writing workshop in Inverness. Lyrically, it’s a light hearted song about being a bit bull-headed!” Good Intentions has a cool Americana feel and is a delightful step into spring that will have you singing along before the end of the 1st chorus. The laid back vibe is just what’s needed in today’s age of rage and is just the tonic to take you away to sunnier climates. It’s a beautiful reminder of why I love music so much, Good Intentions effects are immediate. I already feel better going into the chorus and by the 2nd verse I’m transported to a world where Darragh Cullens vocal backdrop is the horizon I’m heading towards on a journey that I hope will last for a very long time. THE NEW 52, will launch their new single with a headline show on March 18th in Whelan’s Upstairs – tickets e6 on sale now. Watch ‘Good Intentions’...
Bobby Green wants to dance around waterfalls to Jonny Rep’s ‘Cold Sunbeam’
Review by Bobby Green As you grow older your priorities change, you grow to realise the important things in life. Family, connection, truth, love and understanding. These are all things that with time will take over from youthful exuberance and fill your life with joy. And if you’re lucky enough you will have a creative companion to help guide you through the many paths your life will wonder down, be it literature, music, design or anything that inspires. And there will be times that this creative companion will remind you of days gone by, when all that mattered was a kicking pair of runners and your favourite bands T-Shirt. And you would wear that T-Shirt as your cloak of coolness in a sea of self-awareness where others had similar beliefs and you could tell the type of person someone was by the bands they chose to adore. If like me you are lucky enough to not remember much about the late 80’s and early 90’s because you were too busy twisting melons or dancing around waterfalls then you will adore Jonny Rep’s Cold Sunbeam. It’s like you have found one of your favourite albums at the back of your collection and you’re remembering how good it was. It unashamedly pays tribute to its influences in the same way The Cults Electric album pays tribute to ACDC’s High Voltage. It’s been a while since I’ve heard that sound and I’ve missed it. It reminds me of excess and existential relationships with the universe. I wanted to don my flairs and put on the biggest hoodie I could find and pretend that brit pop never happened, and it was all just a dream. But it’s all ok, there is no need to panic because Cold Sunbeam is here now and we don’t have to dig out our lemon T-Shirts and dance amongst the roses because Jonny Rep is playing something new. It does sound like it was recorded in the early 90’s and has all the swagger of that Manchester scene, and this could be the album that sparks the revival of that pre Brit Pop sound. I hope so because I want a Cold Sunbeam T-Shirt, I want people to know that this is an album I like, because if I saw someone wearing one I’d think they were cool. Cold Sunbeam is out February...
Robert Green writes about new single ‘The Last Transmission’ from The Grey Merchant
Review by Bobby Green The last transmission is the 2nd single from the Cork based recording collaborative The Grey Merchant. Their 1st single was a sample based vocal using the excellent and still relevant speech from Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator but with The Last Transmission we get a more traditional vocal, giving the listener a better feel of what The Grey Merchant are capable of. With an album being formulated as we speak the first two releases are an indicator of the overall feel of what we could be in store for. There is a conscience to the vocal that I like and an atmosphere that links in with Spotless (The Protecting veil) their debut release leading you to believe that they take their music, and the world around them very seriously. This is by no means a dour criticism, it’s about time bands started pointing out principled thought through their art, there is a place for it along with the drugs and shagging, it’s been a while since an interesting band have come along. There’s been plenty of exciting great Rock n Roll over the past few years, and some great shoegazing intimate stuff too. The Grey Merchant bridge that gap perfectly, but fill their space with samples of social integrity and interesting lyrics. I’m only 2 songs into this band and I want to see them live, I want to hear more and I’m genuinely interested in what they are about. They have shown with these first two tracks that they do have something to offer and are not just another faceless collaboration that sounds nice. The Last Transmission by The Grey Merchant is out February 23rd. Listen to The Last Transmission...
