punk
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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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Ganglions: “We Might as Well Make a Thing of It”
Melding the smarts of math-rock with a warm but smart-aleccy pop streak, Sheffield/Cork trio Ganglions have come into their own in the past year or so, marking the release of debut EP Fetch! with their maiden Irish excursion, including an appearance at this year’s Quarter Block Party in Cork. This week sees the trio return…
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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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Richie Ramone: Animal Boy Comes to Cork
He’s travelled the world as part of arguably the foremost exponents of punk rock’s velocity and fury, a vital component to its longevity and a cornerstone of the band during some of its most turbulent times. Richard Reinhardt, today a percussionist and composer, his reprised the moniker of Richie Ramone for a new body of…
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Hope is Noise: Driven By Demons
Hope is Noise have been a constant in Cork alternative for the better part of the past two decades. Espousing a raw post-hardcore invested with a sense of melody drawn from wider influences, the band could be forgiven for settling into a groove. Instead, the band have chosen to confront middle age with fourth album…
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Anna’s Anchor: Holding the Brú
Ahead of his gig in The Brú on Friday night, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with singer/guitarist Marty Ryan, a.k.a. Anna’s Anchor. Limerick man Marty Ryan, a.k.a. Anna’s Anchor, stops in Cork on Friday night in a full-band show at the Brú on McCurtain Street. Adopting his nom-de-plume for both solo and ensemble recording projects, it has…
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The Damned: Damned, Damned, Damned
It’s been forty years since the shock and awe of punk filled living rooms, and young minds, on either side of the Atlantic, and one of the genre’s innovators in The Damned is hitting Cyprus Avenue on August 24th. Guitarist Captain Sensible speaks with Mike McGrath-Bryan on the band’s past, present and future. This year…
Mike McGrath-Bryan 