Post-punk band, Chalk have released their debut single ‘Them’. Chalk is an Irish band based in Belfast. After meeting at film school, the band was quickly established during the summer of 2019. Chalk’s songwriting is image-driven, influenced by their filmmaking roots. Their visual style (as seen in their self-made music videos) interweaves with their sound in an evocative fashion. Their debut single, ‘Them’, was recorded with producer Chris Ryan (SORBET, Robocobra Quartet), known for his work with Irish acts Just Mustard and NewDad.
‘Them’ is a beast of a track that showcases the raucous and enthralling sound of Chalk. Filled with dance beats and catchy bass hooks the verses brood within dark eerie soundscapes before erupting into a battering instrumental assault for the chorus while spoken word vocals spit enigmatic lyrics with sinister venom; “Your shape cries and bends through me “. The vocals venture from whispered nonchalant tones to fierce wails and exclaims as the song builds to its manic rave-like crescendo. ‘Them’ is an utterly thrilling experience, the listener is treated to many musical gems on each subsequent listen from deft production to lush textures and evocative lyrics. Chalk are an exciting new addition to the post-punk scene. Keep an eye on this band.
Dublin band Forty Foot have released their new single ‘IDNA’. Forty Foot is a three-piece band from Dublin, composed of Mark Dillon (Guitar) and cousins Sam Coffey (Guitar/Vocals) and Ezra Mullen (Drums). The band was formed in 2019 following the sudden death of a friend and previous collaborator, with much of their initial work written and inspired by the bands’ loss. Their debut release ‘Drugs’ was recorded during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic at Yellow Door studios. This was followed by their sophomore release “Zeros” which received radio play across Ireland, the UK, and also America.
Forty Foot returns with ‘IDNA’ – a thrilling and blustery grunge rock assault. The track pulsates on a resounding bassline while sharp frenzied guitars pierce throughout. The tune is richly layered in expressive swirling soundscapes that briskly turn into a dizzying trip of distortion as the song reaches its dynamic crescendo. With rasp-filled vocals haunting over an infectious melody, Forty Foot quenches our thirst for raw grunge rock with this exciting, ravaging new tune. Press play and enjoy.
Speaking about the single ‘IDNA’ Guitarist and Vocalist Sam Coffey said: “The lyrics only came together really when we hit the studio. I don’t think I had the chorus written at all actually. For me, it’s a call to arms. Ireland’s been through a tough time with COVID and with an unaccountable government that is just ticking boxes. It’s been rough for many. Despite this there is an inherent pride and togetherness we all share, it is in our DNA. All the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends, lovers, had to keep each other going. I think I was just tapping into that feeling, it was certainly how I felt and how I still feel.”
Columbia Mills have released their new single ‘Heart of a Nation’. ‘Heart of a Nation’ is the title track and first single from the band’s third album scheduled for release in September this year. Described by John Kennedy (Radio X) as Ireland’s answer to The National, Columbia Mills are regulars at festivals such as Indiependence, Longitude, and Electric Picnic and have supported world-class acts like Ride, Public Service Broadcasting, and Palace. On top of this, they have also toured Ireland & the UK with a string of headline shows at venues such as Whelans, King Tuts, and Sebright Arms.
‘Heart of a Nation’ is a thrilling new song from Columbia Mills. Dealing with dark themes, in particular Ireland’s housing crisis the band highlight failures in our society. Fiachra Treacy’s vocals croon moving lyrics and drive home the songs stark lyrical content “A mother in a hotel raising her kids she’s not on holiday how did it end up this way …….sleeping in a Garda station, living in the heart of a first world nation”.
‘Heart of a Nation’ is a wonderfully expressive piece of music. The band create a soundscape filled with lush instrumentation, dark undertones and dazzling moments of evocative musicianship through the use of chiming guitars, bass rumbles and beautiful key arrangements that deftly convey coiling emotion, innocence, and anger.
The enthralling sound of Columbia Mills is one to be admired. Each of the band’s releases are a joy to listen to again and again. ‘Heart of a Nation’ is an excellent display of Columbia Mills’ masterful use of instrumentation, sonic finesse and eloquent songwriting.
Speaking about ‘Heart of a Nation’ lead singer Fiachra Treacy said: “Heart of a Nation” documents the housing crisis in Ireland, with each verse tackling a different aspect of the problem. From a mother sleeping with her children in a Garda station to the crooked businessmen and politicians that have caused the housing crisis in Ireland. Heart of a Nation peels back the political rhetoric and looks at the real people affected when the ruling class looks out for themselves.”
Thumper – Photography by Ruth Medjber @ruthlessimagery
Irish noise-pop / alt-rock sextet THUMPER’s hotly-anticipated debut LP ‘Delusions of Grandeur’ is set for release on the 18th March. Over the last two years, the Dublin six-piece have been developing their sound and building an increasingly passionate fanbase. With a lineup of two drummers and three guitarists, THUMPER’s maximalist wall of sound has long since set them apart in the booming Dublin music scene.
I caught up with Oisín Leahy Furlong to talk about the band’s debut album, expectations placed on the band as well as touring and getting comfortable with his voice.
“Well, I suppose that’s how we listen to music by LPs, and THUMPER sort of started and stopped and started and stopped. We had lineup changes, changes in direction and the normal teething problems that bands have. Once we solidified the lineup and the intent it was the next logical step to record that album for now and make our stamp”
THUMPER are perfecting their craft, dropping alternative rock gems with each release. Each member of the band is very talented and the album is a confident display of their musical prowess. I wondered if there were any moments of anxiety and doubt while creating the album.
“It’s hard to say really, because originally we recorded the album we had been on tour in 2019. We were going to the studio just to record a single and a B side and because we’ve been so busy touring, we went in and we recorded like eight or nine songs back to back just because we knew them all back to front because 2020 was gonna be so busy for us. It was just kind of warts and all, band in a room, like an artefact of what we sounded like at that time and that was more born out of our schedule. We didn’t have time to labour over something, but then obviously 2020 came along and all of our plans were null and void at that point. So, we’re on tour when Covid really hit and we flew back to Ireland, and Alan [Dooley] went straight into the studio and started working on re- looking at what we had recorded and what state it was all in. I didn’t see him for like two or three months but I knew he was working on the record. I didn’t know what he was doing. When I finally got to see him, a couple of months had passed and he’d grown a huge beard like he was in Castaway or whatever. He had sort of retcon the whole album from being this live in a room, to something way more. So, when we decided that was the direction we want to take it we were pretty confident with it because those are the album’s that we like you know. But we spent so long on it, 2020 felt like it was about three years long because of everything that was going on and we were in the studio non-stop working on the record. You have to just trust your instinct that what you’re doing is the right thing for the music. So I’m not sure that I would say we were confident it was just sort of willful ignorance that we were doing the right thing.”
The instrumentation within the album is masterful. Each song is a glorious display of great musicianship that boasts sleek guitar moments, sweet melodies and abrasive outbursts. The album takes wild unpredictable twists throughout its blustery journey as it shifts from frenetic soundscapes to stripped back instrumental breaks before leaping into dynamic crescendos. Tracks such as ‘Overbite’ and ‘Topher Grace’ are fine examples of this. ‘Strychnine’ is also a riveting display of musicianship from the sextet. Arguably the tour de force within the album the track is mostly Oisín and an acoustic guitar with soft percussion accompaniment and electronic guitar embellishments.
“That song is, in some ways outside of our comfort zone in the way it’s structured and the way we attacked it. I actually had that in my voice memos. I was going through like I have about 500 voice memos on my phone. It breaks every two seconds. But I had that saved on my phone from like 2018 as THUMPER mid-LP song. Then I was like, yeah, that’s what that will be and then that’s just what we did. Really, again, it’s like you make the decision, you’re confident about it. Then when you have to actualize it that’s when you have to be confident or employ a sort of a weird, over the top sense of self-belief. But we’re really happy with it. It’s one of my favourite tunes on the record now.”
The instrumental track ‘The Ghost’ is an exquisite piece of music. Featuring hypnotic guitar strikes, a sweet guitar refrain and abrasive undertones the track is a mosh pit friendly frenzy that is filled with mind-melting distortion and psychedelic elements.
“Well, when I settled on the idea of calling the album Delusions of Grandeur, that was referencing lyrical themes throughout it, but also in reference to the fact that when THUMPER started, it was a solo project. It was just me bringing out tapes and making like 100 of them and giving them around Dublin, really low stakes. low fi badly recorded, just sort of not throw away but the scope of it was much smaller. When we fixed on this Delusions of Grandeur idea, I thought it’d be funny to have a three-part 20 minute long song, finish the album so obviously, ‘The Ghost’ is like the second in that whole three-part suite at the end. The tune ‘Overbite’ which comes before it was the first time that Alan had basically written all the music or the guts of it to that song and I wrote the lyrics and then I was like, Okay, what this needs is, and I sort of sang out this section that didn’t exist yet. It needs to start off with one guitar and slowly build up into this thing. Then he just randomly flicked through his other demos that he had and just clicked on one and it was exactly what I just said. He had already preempted me wanting that to happen. So that became a blueprint then for that piece of music. Again, it wasn’t some huge decision to this instrumental piece that was gonna make the whole album but it was just going with your gut. Yeah, serving the songs as best you can.”
‘Down in Heaven’ brings the album to an end. It’s a heartbreaking finale. Oisín’s earnest vocals croon very raw lyrics “I did it to myself cos I deserved it” while drums trudge through a sweet melody and piercing sting on guitars. The track is both vibrant and mournful all at once as the band’s expressive use of instrumentation and melody creates gripping heart-wrenching turmoil for listeners to experience. This moving tune is a striking end to a magnificent album and provides a moment of reflection on the album as a whole, making the listener want to experience the rollercoaster ride that is ‘Delusions of Grandeur’ again.
“Yeah, It’s funny, it’s our first album, but there’s a couple of moments on it where I really wasn’t sure. It was a creative risk, because it is quite different to what we’ve done before and the worry would be that tune would be perceived as being melodramatic, even though I was kind of aiming for something a little bit more insular. I’m glad you like it. I don’t know what to say about it. That’s probably the one song that I’m most intrigued to hear people’s reaction to because it is quite raw and it’s us trying our hardest to push past what people expect of us.”
‘Down in Heaven’ alludes to a different THUMPER. It’s a cinematic, cliffhanger moment that suggests something exciting could happen with the next release.
“I think so, I think you’re right. This album is a good few years in the making. We started making some of these songs when I was in my early to mid-20s and now I’m early 30s. So, you change as a person, your tastes change and what you find interesting and what you find uninteresting changes. So yeah, I think the last thing we’ll ever want to do is retread old ground just for the sake of it. So hopefully it is a sign that we can expand our palette beyond what people want and, really treat it like more than just something that’s set in stone.”
Throughout the album, Oisín’s vocals anchor the listener within the soundscape of the tracks while at the same time evoking images of live crowds chanting back the lyrics. Oisín has the ability to spark these live sing-alongs when the band perform. He conveys immense emotion and angst through his vocals.
“The vocals, that’s probably the thing that I’ve struggled the most with. I made no bones in the early days about the fact that I wasn’t, totally comfortable on stage that’s why the band is so big. Within that you’d say, well, why are you doing it to begin with? I don’t really know the answer to that question. But, the vocal yeah, it’s the element that I have the least control over but it’s the part that I worked the hardest on. I think part of the reason our songs are so melodic is so that I can kind of learn them like a nursery rhyme. I don’t know something happens in the process of translating that nursery rhyme where it ends with me rolling around and yelping. But yeah, I love singing because it’s a tender transition between writing something in your room and seeing how it ends up on stage and especially hearing people singing back is very strange”
“ I think the tension though of where you’re trying to work with your body to make this thing and you’re not quite sure whether it’s going to happen, I don’t know it’s kind of alluring. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment or something, but I like not being sure that I’m gonna be able to pull it off”
THUMPER are a one of a kind must-see live act. The band have London and Dublin launch shows this week to coincide with the album release and we discussed the shows and the possibility of a tour.
“Oh, yeah, I’m supposed to be in Europe right now. It got postponed because of Covid, hopefully for the last time.We’ll be doing these shows. We wanted to purposefully keep it really small, so it was like returning to how we started off upstairs in Whelan’s, we probably played there 20 times. So, cramming 100 people in there seemed like a really, fitting way to kick start this next chapter. Then yeah, we’ll be announcing a full Big Boy tour later in the year. We’ll be doing all the festivals and all that stuff as well. “
THUMPER have created a phenomenal album with ‘Delusions of Grandeur’. Musically the band treat our ears to a plethora of shoegaze, psychedelia and alternative rock with speckles of pop embellished throughout while earnest lyrics venture into dark territory and explore the struggle of self-image, internal and external. It’s a wonderful album that provides an exciting glimpse into the many facets of THUMPER.
‘Delusionsof Grandeur’ is set for release on Friday the 18th of March.
Until then you can watch the video for THUMPER’s latest single ‘Fear of Art’ below
Scattered Ashes have released their new single ‘This New Will’. The track follows The ‘Parallel Lines EP’, released on blood red vinyl, selling out in its first week in Rough Trade stores throughout the UK. 2021 ended with sell-out Dublin and London shows, alongside support with Sprints and THUMPER. Scattered Ashes come straight out of the Dublin post-punk underground that birthed Murder Capital and Fontaines DC. The four-piece rapidly developed a name for themselves with their debut single ‘Love Is Not An Option’ receiving immediate support and airplay from Steve Lamacq (BBC Radio 6) and KEXP over in the states. The band are now set to embark on a series of Irish & UK shows in support of the single, including dates in Dublin, Galway, London, Manchester and Leeds.
With a glorious guitar refrain peering above a heavy rhythmic wall of sound, ‘This New Will’ is an exciting new single from Scattered Ashes. The song deals with the topic of disintegration and rebirth. Eloquent swirling instrumentation creates moments of innocence within the track’s overwhelming sense of melancholy while a lamenting melody and deep vocals express the song’s poetic lyrical depth, “there’s a price for pain, it’s so much different than before”. Showcasing majestic guitar work between outbursts of distortion and psychedelia, ‘This New Will’ is a compelling new tune from Scattered Ashes.
About the track, frontman Robert Dalton remarks that “A lifetime of self-denial leads to a dramatic overhaul of character: a new hope, a new urge, a new will. This is our most poignant song yet.”
Five-piece indie rock band Room D have released their new single ‘Strangers’. This tight, infectious tune is a wonderful display of Room D’s blend of indie rock sprayed with irresistible grooves and enough energy to have a live audience going crazy. The track glistens with bright guitar lines tightly weaved between a warm bass and buoyant drum foundation creating a light and fun soundscape for listeners to enjoy. Boasting a catchy melody, warm vocals and majestic guitar work, ‘Strangers’ is an upbeat and immensely enjoyable tune from Room D.
UK based Indie band The Trusted have released their new single ‘Eli’. The track was recorded and produced by Rees Broomfield, SS2 Studios and mixed by Grammy-nominated Andy Bradfield (Elbow, David Gray, Rufus Wainwright). The Trusted are Southend-on-Sea natives Dave Batchelor, Dale Holt-Mead, Fin Cunningham and Tom Cunningham. The band have received support from major radio players including Jake Peach BBC Introducing Essex, Tom Robinson BBC 6 Music, Gary Crowley BBC Radio London and Charlie Ashcroft Amazing Radio and many international radio stations.
‘Eli’ is an ethereal slice of indie rock that boasts the mature and compelling sound of The Trusted. The band weave aerial guitars through a tight groove-infused drum and bass foundation to create a contrasting push and pull effect while soaring synths flood the track in breezy cool tones. Filled with lush crooning vocals and cinematic builds ‘Eli’ is an utterly gripping tune that marks The Trusted a band to keep an eye on.
A song about revelations and guilt, ‘Eli’ suggests that we are all victims of our own flawed mind. “The song’s protagonist turns to a fictionalised Jesus/God type character (Eli) thinking they will be able to save them. The protagonist comes to the realisation that the only way they can save their mind from self-destruction, is to do it themselves.” explains The Trusted.
Cork indie rock outfit, The Neon Cars have released their new single ‘Night Sky’. This exhilarating tune boasts the soaring arena-ready sound of The Neon Cars. Consumed in a roaring atmosphere of anthemic rock, the band deliver a sound that rushes with urgency. Light on its feet the track buoyantly advances with snappy rhythms and kinetic soundscapes before a dynamic bassline pirouettes into an explosive guitar-heavy chorus. The track is an exciting, emotive assault on the senses. With a velvety vocal delivery and intense suspenseful soundscapes, ‘Night Sky’ is a fantastic single that whacks you in the face with the deft musical prowess of The Neon Cars. Press play and enjoy again and again and again.
Bournemouth based indie rock four-piece Small Talk have released their debut single ‘Headstart’. Formed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Small Talk is comprised of school friends Ben Lewis on Vocals and Bass and Ali Barron on Guitar with Harry Whitton on Drums and Jack Babbe on Guitar.
‘Headstart’ is an ethereal indie anthem laced in refined instrumentation and glorious melodies. The song is earnest and heartfelt at its core as warm vocals caress a dreamy melody while the lyrics discuss love, loss, heartbreak and loneliness. The band display their knack with earworm melodies and tight well-paced musicianship as they blend indie elements with subtle moments of pop to create an enjoyable listening experience for listeners to indulge in. Looking forward to hearing more from this four-piece.
About the track, Ben Lewis said: “Headstart was written at a time when I just felt inferior to everyone. It seemed everyone I knew on social media was moving on with their lives and doing amazing things while I was stuck in the same place. It kind of tackles that issue through the eyes of someone who went through a difficult relationship and experienced this downfall.”
Dublin-based new wave rock band Hook have released their new single, ‘I Want To See You Tonight’. The band formed in early 2019 consists of Eoin O’Donnell (vocals, guitar), Morgan O’Brien (drums) and Danny Spelman (bass, vocals). The tight-knit three-piece released their critically acclaimed debut EP back in March 2020 and received much-deserved airplay from around the world.
‘I Want To See You Tonight’ sees Hook take their irresistible sound and saturate it with emotion to create one glorious listening experience. Bright guitar glimmers between a pop-punk backdrop to create an uplifting and dynamic soundscape for listeners to indulge in. The track is brimming with gusto with rasped vocals exuding emotion and urgency as O’Donnell exclaims “ I want to see you tonight” between kinetic instrumental builds. Hook have become known for their richly layered, catchy tunes and ‘I Want To See You Tonight’ is a perfect example of this. The track is a magnificent new single that is sure to have you singing along in no time.
Stream ‘I Want To See You Tonight’ below
Author: Danu
Indie: (n) an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself.
