indie
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Rubyhorse: Ready to Shine
Having blazed a trail around the world for Cork’s indie scene in the late nineties and early noughties, Rubyhorse are lined up for a return this January at Ballincollig’s Winter Music Festival. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with guitarist Joe Philpott. One of the great hopes of the city’s music scene as the nineties wound their way…
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The Shaker Hymn: “There’s No Redoing Things”
New single ‘Dead Trees’ sees Corkonian poppers The Shaker Hymn in hollering, apocalyptic form. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with vocalist Caoilian Sherlock about the process behind the band’s upcoming third album. It’s one of those odd things, independent music: for a wide umbrella of music that prides itself on creative freedom and cultural autonomy in order…
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The Altered Hours: “It’s All in the Guts”
The Altered Hours have been on a roll in the last eighteen months or so, going from the release of debut long-player In Heat/Not Sorry, to European touring, to bringing the roof down on Cork venue Gulpd Cafe on its final night (all of which you can read about in Village Magazine’s piece on the…
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Hope is Noise: “It’s a Simple Philosophy for Us”
From humble roots as a secondary-school jam band in Ballincollig, Co. Cork to features in UK media and EU/US touring, alt-rock/post-hardcore four-piece Hope is Noise are often slept on when the conversation of veteran Irish acts emerges. Five full-lengths and two decades in, the band maintains somewhat of a godfather status in the city by…
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Irish Indie Label Day: “Just Getting Off Your Arse and Doing Anything is Worthy of Support”
This coming Saturday, October 14th has officially been declared Irish Indie Label Day in Ireland by a coalition of independent and DIY record labels dotted around the country. An initiative kicked off by Cork’s Penske Recordings and Sligo-based Art for Blind label, it entails a day-long record fair in Whelan’s in Dublin, featuring over a…
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Shrug Life: “There’s a Small Victory in Articulating Absurdity”
Observers of the mundane, be-moaners of the grind and fond custodians of lo-fi pop propulsion, Dublin trio Shrug Life have been doing the rounds for a few years now, and with 2014 E.P. The Grand Stretch long since committed to the review pages, the long-term project of putting down a full-length has finally come to fruition. Recorded in 2015-2016,…
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Honeyblood: Honeyed Tones from Scots Duo
Honeyblood vocalist/guitarist Stina Tweeddale chats with Mike McGrath-Bryan about their new album, tour footage, and what lies ahead. It’s a time of expansion for Scottish punk/pop duo Honeyblood. Sophomore effort Babes Never Die has landed on shelves, with the record’s eponymous leadoff single now doing the rounds. What follows in the coming months will be…
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Percolator: Brewing New Sounds
Brandishing a sound that resembles a Venn diagram of shoegaze, indie, Krautrock and post-punk, Percolator’s development has been slow and steady over the past number of years, with a series of singles and extended-players finding their way out as the band proceeded. This work has led to debut album SESTRA, releasing this month via Cork’s…
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Pleasure Beach: On the Go
Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with Pleasure Beach singer Alan Haslam about their journey so far, big singles, and their upcoming Cyprus Avenue show on March 2nd. Belfast dream-pop/indie outfit Pleasure Beach spent the majority of last year building from the late-2015 release of debut extended-player ‘Dreamer to the Dawn’, surfing a wave of momentum from anthemic…
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Wyvern Lingo: “We Can’t Get Enough of It”
Wyvern Lingo’s whirlwind 2016 winds down with an Irish tour, stopping at Cyprus Avenue on the 27th. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with vocalist and pianist Karen Cowley. They’re one of the group of names in independent Irish music threatening to bother the mainstream in a major fashion, but having built up a solid fanbase across the…
Mike McGrath-Bryan 