Adebisi Shank have announced the title of their up and coming second album. This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank follows last year’s self-titled debut which brought the band some serious attention from national and international shores.
Sure to be a hot independent release, the album’s due out in August. Catch the guys when they play Dublin’s Twisted Pepper on July 17th. Visit their MySpace for more information.
Original story from Hotpress.
Oliver Cole is coming back to Dublin to headline Live At The Odessa on July 22nd. Mr. Cole and band will be banging out tunes from the singers debut solo album, We Albatri in the cozy, intimate and always packed Odessa Club on Dame Street.
Live At The Odessa is a regular presentation of big names acts in a small venue which has seen the likes of Maria Doyle Kennedy, The Walls (who are indecently playing this Thursday, 8th July), Jape, The Jimmy Cake plus many more grace’s it’s doors.
No ticket price as of yet but generally the shows are put on for a very modest price.
Just 10 minutes ago, Choice Award winners and Irish electro extraordinaire Richie ‘Jape’ Egan confirmed that his new album is reaching completion.
Updating his Facebook page, the singer wrote..
‘new album almost recorded here in black box studio france, still a bit to do though. it sounds pretty sweet so far we reckon :). still no title though.. any suggestions? Xrich’
Tickets There will off course bring you more news when we have it.
Though The Urges may be more suited for a MySpace Review, we thought it was about time we did another Irish Noise feature instead because honestly, we prefer the art work and the Urges have been around for about seven years now so it’s our fault for not discovering them before today, not theirs.
Like many bands we’ve reviewed recently, The Urges play sixties psychedelic styled rock and again like many Irish bands, they play it well. The MS player starts on I Gotta Wait which has a nice alt/country opening before falling into a Rolling Stones styled swaggering rock number. Lotta crashing drums, lotta guitar work and good strong vocals. On top of the solid structure, they’ve got a pretty savage tune in I Gotta Wait.
It Ain’t Right comes on next and this one falls more into the psychedelic styled song with the standard Hammond organ joining proceedings. The vocals are a little more nasally than before but the backing chants from the band help beef things up a little. Musically it’s strong again and gets better and better as it goes on. Nothing too stand outish but very enjoyable all the same.
13th Floor (Live at the BBC) comes in third and again the psych sound returns with some Door’s-esque / garage rock fusion. Very similar in composition to many sixties greats and all the better for it. Song becomes even more enjoyable in the final minutes as the band branch out from the simple verse, chorus end structure of the other too and indulge in some badly needed trippy jamming.
Final (first) tune, The Urges Theme is another slice of catchy gritty rock. Good verse, good chorus, not. Not a song you’d write a hundred words about but worth several listens. Think we’re running out of steam today so why not check out their MySpace page and give them a go for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
Another fantastically sunny Sunday here in Dublin and what better way to celebrate than by closing the curtains, straining the tired eyes and listening to the latest single from Ash. Tickets There only managed to reach bed around eight am this morning so we’re relying on the Co. Down boys to wake us up more than coffee ever could with a happy, jumpy, summery feel good hit. It may take longer than we’d like, but they get us there.
Instinct is the latest single in the A-Z series and it’s worthy of the title. Took a wee while to get into this one as it’s not as engrossing as quality Ash material and not a massive departure in styles from many previous A-Z tracks. It does manage to grow quickly though but will doubtfully ever become one of the more memorable numbers from the bands career.
Saying that, the song boasts some great dance pop beats, a brilliant beefy bass and a savage guitar solo so there’s plenty to make it worth your while giving this one a few spins. Tim’s voice also has some sternness to the tone which gives the track a backbone and stops it from becoming one of their few ‘avoid’ numbers.
See ya’ll in two weeks for Single U, one of the last releases in the series (sob, what’ll we do without our regular Ash reviews?? You TELL ME????)
Hop over to Ash-Official.com now, to hear Instinct for yourself.
Damn lucky Belfast folks. ASH have announced details of an all ages show for Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre on July 9th as a warm-up for the Oxegen performance laster this month,
Support will come from local bands More Than Conquerors and Key Of Atlas. Tickets on sale now, more detials @ Ash-Official.com.
Not sure if this is our third or fourth attempt to get this bands review finished but no matter what computer we try, their MySpace page brings IE and Firefox to a near freeze. Very frustrating when you only have 30 minutes to do a review! There’s one saving grace though, the band sound wicked cool.
As usual we’ve never seen them live or heard their album.
Ain’t No Love kicks things off and its psychedelic sixties organ driven rock delivered with punk brutality. It’s busy, forceful and changes constantly leaving no spare room, no let up and nothing to flaw. Really good and well worth the 10 minutes it takes to get the f**ker loaded up.
Have It All comes on next and it’s more of a desperado styled sixties piece. The vocals are just as dirty as before, the music’s just as interactive despite a far more sublimed style. Tickets There is quite happy to be sold on the believability of the tracks alone. It’s not an Irish style and not something we’re massively good at it but The Revellions seems to have nailed it.
All The Lights (From the BBC Sessions) sounds like something straight from a Tarantino soundtrack. It’s got attitude, swagger and once again it’s delivered in that crisp cool desperado sound we all love. Well, we love it, that’s why Guns N’ Roses are so high on our list?
Second on the player, fourth in line – the irresistibly catchy Down On Your Luck comes along to blow the quiet desperado style out the window with some forceful, excellently delivered rock n roll. Some fantastic guitar and bass interaction, particularly towards the end when they spiral off together. Great number, top of the list so far.
Not The Attraction sees the band finally getting close to the ‘Garage Band’ tag they’ve labeled themselves with. Possibly one of the scariest, strangest songs we’ve heard while doing these reviews. Clusters of intense, over volumed noise compiled of pounding drums, looped and layered screaming vocals and dirtiness not seen since eighties LA. Completely chaotic, totally nonsensical yet strangely appealing.
Not totally sure if Walking Away is the final track due to the half frozen screen. Can barley move the damn thing but we’re gonna call it quits, too much messing around. Thankfully the guys don’t let us leave on a low note as Walking Away turns out to be a thumping little punky rock number. Not a massive leap in styles from the other tunes but instead, a perfect delivery of a sound these guys are brilliant and writing.
Yet another album Tickets There will be purchasing in the near future. Well worth heading over to their MySpace and sticking out the loading issues for a few spins.
Anyone else been wondering what happened to Humanzi? Me too and thanks to up and coming Irish act, The Murder Clues, a piece of the puzzle has been presented to us. The manzi’s leading vox man, Shaun Mulrooney has been working on a solo project entitled Admiral Black and it appears the time has come for its launching.
The cheek you say, how dare someone in this country attempt to launch a career without informing Irelands sexiest music blog!! Not to worry folks, Tickets There’s as forgiving as a corrupt priest and we’ve taken the high road and decided to bless this inception with a complimentary review (going rate is €5,000 for other bands).
As usual, we’ve never heard the album or seen them live.
Opening song NiceMan (3 Legged Mule) retains many of the traits from the Admirals former band but manages to edge things in a different direction. Rather than the punky sound we’re used to from Shaun, there’s more of a swaggering rock front backed by an eighties upbeatness. The song’s catchy, well constructed and full of little extras to make it a tasty opening number. The cowboy styled acoustic and, what we’re presuming are maracas in the background also appeal to the ears.
Got Love If You Want It follows a similar style with a stronger riff and slightly more hard-line feel to the delivery. Not as dancy but just as appealing. Shaun’s talent is unveiling its-self more and more and the sound, while similar in places to his former group, still manages to differentiate enough to stand on its own.
The true grandness of these songs comes to a peak on third track, Closure. A daunting, haunting number lamenting love, like all great song writers are. The style and tone are a big leap away from any sound Humanzi used on their albums showing Shaun is no one trick pony and has a lot more to offer the world.
Final song, The Worm of the Third Sting represents another change, this time more in the sixties pop rock direction. There’s a psychedelic vibe mixed with a subdued poppish themes. Again, another outright winner.
Overall, a great effort so far and Tickets There’s banking there’s many more where they came from. We’re delighted to report tat’s it’s not a loyalty to Humanzi that we’re lavishing the praise, if anything we feared the worst but Shaun’s pulled it off and we’re quite happy to refer to him as Admiral Black going forward.
The Admiral Black return to Irish shores this month to play The Garage on July 29th and Twisted Pepper on July 31st. Tickets There (leg feeling up to it) will be there with the usual bells in place.
Visit their MySpace now by Clicking Here.
*** UPDATED – 09-Jul-2010 ***
Gig Was great – Review posted HERE.
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Live @ The Odessa is gearing up to present legendary brothers, Steve and Joe Wall’s two man show this July. The former Stunning chiefs will bring the music of The Walls and some special audio-visual theatrics together, to give fans an intimate night of stripped back, pop rock perfection for the low, low price of €10.
The band are currently putting the finishing touches on their third album, Stop The Lights but you can hear the first single, Carrying The Fire (Read our review HERE) now by visiting www.thewalls.ie or www.downloadmusic.ie.
For those of you living outside Dublin, you can also cath the two man show on the following dates.
01-Jul BOYLES MUSIC CAVERN, MAIN ST., SLANE, CO. MEATH
03-Jul CARNEGIE ARTS CENTRE, KENMARE, CO. KERRY
08-Jul ODESSA CLUB, 13 DAME COURT, DUBLIN 2
09-Jul CLIPPER ROUND THE WORLD BOAT RACE, CORK CITY
22-Jul Upstairs @ the White Horse, West Village, Ballincollig, Co. Cork
10-Sep THE TEMPLE HOUSE FESTIVAL, BALLYMOTE, CO. SLIGO
Mullingar, Leeds and Longford’s finest, The Aftermath are coming back. The band are currently holed up in various studios finishing the mastering and recording of their second, as of yet untitled second album and will be hitting Irish stages for dates in Offaly, Donegal, Cork, Dublin and Mullingar this summer.
On top of this, the band have announced that the first single from the new album, Lost Possession will be released in early August and Tickets There cannot wait. Hopefully they’ll stick it into the summer set-lists and give us a preview.
The Full list of dates can be viewed below.
Saturday June 26 – Astral Planes Festival, Birr Castle, Birr, Co Offaly.
Saturday June 26 – The Sea Sessions, Bundoran, Co Donegal.
Sunday June 27 – The Crane Lane Theater, Cork City.
Friday July 2 – Phantom First Friday, The Academy, Dublin
Friday July 30 – One Night Stand, The Equestrian Centre, Mullingar.
Up and coming psychedelic rockers, Sweet Jane have announced plans to play two free shows in Dublin to celebrate the release of their highly anticipated debut album, Sugar For My Soul.
The gig’s are both due to take place on Friday July 2nd (after work J) @ Tower Records (5.30 – In-store) and Pacino’s @ 11pm.
Tickets There carried out a brief interview with the bands front woman, Lydia Des Dolles last month to find out how the band were getting on and what their plans for the future look like. Click Here to Read.
It’s Fathers day and what better gift could any father ask for than a brand spanking new tune from Ireland’s leading pop rock trio, Ash. Single S, Spheres is officially available for streaming today and given a few goes, it’s proven to be one of the best from the second half of the A-Z Series.
Rather than going for the simple three chords, catchy build Ash are famous for, Sphere’s is a little more complex, deep and darker. There’s an eerie piano melody laid down over the verse with a slow, brooding drum and bass hammering along with only slight guitars in he distance, before everything thunders together for a restrained chorus.
The whole thing breaks down towards the end culminating in a funky, dance styled closure that never really explodes but, that would have been the obvious ending.
All in all, a tasty little number as usual from the Down boys. Head on over to Ash-Official to hear the track for yourself. Hurry up, only two weeks till Single T is out.
Little later than we’ve liked. If Ash have the decency to be on time, you think we’d manage it. Fortunately it’s given us a few extra days to absorb the latest release in the A-Z series and this is always a good think when your love for the music increases.
Physical World is a real easy going, poppy punkish kind of track, like Ash’s earlier material. There’s the obligatory catchy chorus, the heavy guitar driven killer riff / solo and less lyrics than Baldrick’s ‘Magnum octopus’. In short, the track sends a message about returning to basics of society rather than living in the on-line world (say, spending your spare time blogging rather than living – Ed). It’s got everything you need, it’s full of beams and it’s damn right tasty. Definitely a high point of A-Z Part II.
Well worth a visit to Ash-Official.com for a listen. Enjoy!
Every now and again, we find a band unknown to us that are so good we’re ashamed to call ourselves music writers. How in the hell can a team of journalists, doing our best 24 hours a day, every day of the week to scout and promote Irish talent not find acts like the The Riptide Movement in its first week? Never mind though, we’ve got them now.
Formed in 2006 in Dublin, this ‘four piece blues’ outfit are a breath of fresh air for any fans of classic rock. Nothing about their sound reeks of ‘forced efforts’ and they magically combine styles from The Doors, The Stones, Creedence Clear Water Revival plus others without intruding on anyone’s trademarks. In short, they’ve taken a classic sound and made it their own.
As usual we’ve never seen them live or heard their album.
Just on Alive Inside at the moment and like it’s predecessors in the player, it rocks like a motherfucker. Imagine Jim Morrison sobered up and singing for a funky Creedence and you’ve got this one. Guitars, drums, changes, pace, vocals – everything is just spot on dirty blues rock. Like Jaded Sun but with more of an edge and easily on par with Swanee River, except we haven’t heard a Take Me Away…yet.
Going back to the bands most recent single, Hard To Explain, we see a totally different sound altogether. On other tracks you get the sweaty, wind in hair, booze on shirt blues, but Hard To Explain relies on a more radio friendly styled indie based guitar with bumpkin styled melodies. Quite catchy and not so much a departure from their harder sound that you’d hold it against them. Repeated listens bring new love.
Cry Cry Baby really sees the classic rock kick in. Coming from the bands 2008 debut, What About The Tip Jars (An album we’ll be picking up immediately after this reviews done and dusted), Driven by that classic Hammond Organ sound, the song is nothing but a clean cut slice of Americana rock n roll.
Bringing Down The House adds a funky swagger into the sound again and delivers yet another classic rock anthem. Not going into the nitties for this band, it’s all just so good. Real kick back, have a beer and chillax music. The title track from their debut, What About The Tip Jars is the same. Another kick ass slice of well delivered, well constructed rock n roll.
This is one of those reviews when we’re not interested in writing about the music (or writing ‘rock n roll 1,000 time). It’s designed for listening and that’s just what we’re going to do. Highly recommend! If you’re going to do one thing today, we advise going to their MySpace right now and giving them a few spins for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
Click Here to visit The Riptide Movement’s MySpace.
You can expect a follow up as soon as we get our hands on the bands material.
Still continuing with our revival, it’s time to pull out the classic TT MySpace Review series and dust off the clichés. We have a band, they ain’t half bad and we’re gonna write about them.
Normally we don’t go near acts with just demos posted to their MySpace but we decided that due to their talent, the quality of the demos and a complete lack of other options, we’d press ahead and give up and coming Dubliners, The Fallen Drakes the MySpace Review treatment.
As usual, we’ve never seen them live and they don’t have anything out.
Sex Sell’s is the song that really sold us. It’s kind of like mischievous funk. Buckling bass lines, slicked back drumming and nifty, catchy guitar riff. Not a bad way for any band to start.
By Law comes up next and any fans of Wilt are going to love this one. Very solid, basic guitars, Brian’s pounced Irish vocals and big, sounding chorus. Lyrics are about staking some girl and getting revenge on her for a restraining order. Hmm, autobiographical? We hope so, will make better reading than the un-fantastic exploits of Pete Doherty.
The Story With Girls is last and it follows a pretty similar formula to the previous two. Chorus is probably the best of the lot and it’s enjoyable. We’ll leave it there as these are just demo’s so let’s save it till the final versions come out. Overall – promising for a new band, let’s hope they keep it up!
Check out The Fallen Drakes MySpace by Clicking Here.
If you’re going to start a band in Ireland there are several bench marks of comparison. Do you aim for the hard rock hero status of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy? Or go a traditional direction and aspire to bands like The Dubliners and Planxty. Maybe, since this a recession and we’re all broke and the dreams of five star hotels, a house on the Vico Road and a stage set bigger than your national stadium appeal leaving the U2 option open. There are many choices depending on the style you want but one fundamental stone needs to be put in place first, the fine art of writing a good song.
Ireland is crammed with bands, so many that unless you’re working full time in the industry you’d be hard pushed to know them all and even then it would be a struggle. Unfortunately, a lot of our national bands expire before they ever truly get going and this is down to one simple reason, style over substance. Too many bands focus on the cult status elements of their heroes and forget that behind every Joy Division there’s a Love Will Tear Us Apart Again. Bands need to re-learn the simple art of writing songs that appeal to the masses or they have almost no chance of surviving long. To learn this art, there’s no better instructors than the legendary brothers, Steve and Joe Wall.
In their time, The Stunning were the biggest act in the country and to this day they’re remembered more fondly than almost any other rock band we’ve ever produced. In cities, tows and villages all across the country you’re always guaranteed to find Brewing Up A Storm playing somewhere every night. Unfortunately The Stunning eventually split under the pressure of international acclaim eluding them but their music has lived on a lot longer than anyone could have anticipated and each time they reform for a few shows, they pack the venues out.
Since the demise of The Stunning, Steve and Joe have been working on another musical project together, The Wall’s and hit another high point with 2002’s To The Bright And Shinning Sun. Working more as an experimentation model than The Stunning used to, The Wall’s have released two massively acclaimed albums in their 12 years together and this year looks set to see their third finally hit Irish and international shelves.
In the build up to the release, the band have put up some previews of the new material and we can happily inform you that Carrying the Fire continues the lads long tradition of writing poppy, simplistic and catchy as hell tunes. The whole track flows so nicely and it’s instantly catchy. Nothing to flaw here and an easy contender for this summer’s feel good hit.
The B-Side, Phantom Power is equally enticing. Described by the band as the song The Walls, MGMT and Flaming Lips would come up with if they were stuck in a room together. Another feel good, upbeat hit put across in The Wall’s defining stripped back coolness. It’s gentle, it’s non-invasive and it’ll stick in your head like superglue.
We’re not going overboard on the descriptions because there’s a full album to come but judging by these two tracks, the lads have something very special up their sleeves and Tickets There for three cannot wait to hear it. Young bands of the country, time to sit up and take notice. This is how it’s done.
Carrying the Fire will be available to download from thewalls.ie from 1st June.
Both tracks will be available to download from i-Tunes and most other digital store in late June. Click Here to hear both tracks on the bands official Facebook Page.
Click Here to read The Walls – Live @ The Odessa, Dublin (July 8th – Live Review)
Time for catch up season on Tickets There. We’ve been meaning to get back to several of the MySpace Review subjects for some time with A Futurist Theatre at the top of the list. Thankfully we haven’t been disappointed by lack of progress as the lads have been working hard on a few new studio cuts to keep fans happy until they get an album in the works.
Kicking things of is the spacious rocky thumper, Devil Have Mercy, which builds and builds into a stomping classic rock / indie styled thumper. Vocals go from passive to hard assed and rather than take the quiet verse, loud chorus model, the band have opted for a solid structure of constant building with one big blow out release. Nice!
The Mountains Move is next and opens with a nice down toned hammer piano before the rest of the band kicks in with a very sublimed sound compared with Devil Have Mercy. It’s a long one, filled with changes, melodies and grandness.
Finishing things off is the haunting Karenina, that sounds like Muse moving into the realm of despair. The song jumps between chilling, echoing guitar picking, ghostly harmonies and revved up drumming to ferocious (a word we love) guitar bursts, that become driven by a sizzling yet simplistic lead that spears the whole thing to a close when the vocals come tearing back in as the song erupts chaotically.
Sign of things to come? We frickin’ hope so. Check out their Soundcloud by Clicking Here.
Bit late with this one. Originally we were going to stick these lads in for a MySpace Review but after a few spins of their record thanks to Harmless Noise), we felt that wouldn’t do them justice and a full Album review is in order.
Made up of various members from Crayonsmith, Cap Pas Cap and Guilty Optics, Jogging were formed less than two years ago but shows with Bats and other high profile underground bands have brought them alot of attention, especially from up and coming indie label, The Richter Collective. The RC been responsible for releasing some of the most original albums Irelands produced in the last few years,including outputs from The Redneck Manifesto, Adebisi Shank, I’ll Eat Your Face and The Vinny Club. With the a real working band label in toe, Jogging have now been able to release their debut album, Minutes and before getting into the details, we can happily say there’s much worse things you could spend €5 on.
Any fans of The Future Kings of Spain, Bats and And So I Watch You From Afar will love this band. They combine hardcore singling styles, monumentally heavy bass and guitar arrangements and slick, indie rock structures to deliver truly enjoyable and refreshing sound. Opening with the belting Threadbare the album delivers an array of different styled tracks including the At The Drive-In styled Not Simple and album selling Shakeup Shakedown, the heavy, brooding Fostered Foes and the ferocious Cleft Chin, Good Heart.
There’s little to disappoint and plenty to keep you coming back. It’s been spinning on our speakers daily for the last two weeks and it’s still growing. To show they care they’ve posted the full album on their official site for streaming so why not pop over, have a few spins and enjoy yourselves.
Click Here to hear the full album in full and download.
Getting closer to the end of the series and the success machine that is Ash’s A-Z rolls on. Their latest track, Binary is a little slice of dance/pop heaven. Lighter than TT’s preferred Ash sound, the song still retains the perfect pop sensibilities, catchy changes and flat our perfectionism we love about the group.
Any fans of Return of White Rabbit and Space Shot are sure to love this wee one. We miss the guitars but change is always good and let’s face it, Ash always handle change well.
Check out the track @ Ash-Official.com. See ye all in two weeks!
This is a song we very much regret not reviewing a couple of weeks ago when it first appeared. Alas, here it is now and if you haven’t already heard it on the other 150,000 Irish blogs praising it, then listen now. Ladies and gentlemen, Ham Sandwich’s latest release, The Naturist. Fantastic 🙂
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