The Hollows - It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It

I had been looking forward to listening to The Hollows new album 'It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It' since I first reviewed some sample tracks from it earlier this year, and now finally listening to the full album this past week, I have to say it was well worth the wait. This album is a real gem.

While everything about the appearance of this album has the personal touch, from the artwork to the hand-made packaging, tied and bound, the songs on it are every bit as much so, with some beautifully fragile accounts of reaching out from sorrow. If you want to draw comparisons, consider Sparklehorse's quieter moments such as 'Junebug' or 'Sad and Beautiful World'. It's folkish, but predominantly indie, and quite touching. It is also dotted with beautifully poetic lyrics, such as in 'Dreamt You Woke' leading off tenderly with 'the winter blossoms just appeared, fell to ground like little tears...' and coupled with despondantly revealing lines, most striking in 'Cavalry' with 'it seems we have no great expectations, we dream our dreams, but live a lie', there are many moments on this album that although are crushingly sorrowful, are also truly majestic.

For me, choice tracks would be 'Cavalry' and the painfully sad 'Close My Eyes', although I feel all songs on the album level out quite well together.

This is actually the third release from The Hollows. Previously they have released a mini-album 'Seeking To Stand Beautifully On The Earth' and a 3-inch CD EP 'We Could Sleep This Season Through'. The band were also recently asked to contribute a song to the soundtrack to 'Superheros', an independent film by award-winning director Ed Radtke. They are currently arranging gigs around Ireland to promote the release and already have plans to begin recording material for a new EP. The album is finding its way to record stores and distributors around Ireland and the UK, and is also available online through Road Records.

Related Links:

http://www.thehollowsmusic.com

http://www.myspace.com/thehollowsie

http://www.slowloris.org

The Revellions

The Revellions are one of the most recent garage surf bands to emerge from Dublin, and an excellent one at that. There's notable influence of that grit-edged raw garage sound of The Chocolate Watch Band in here, although played with a lot of surf guitar and moody organ sounds. It's loud and often intense, and when lead singer James Lister spouts out his vocals, it is delivered with an incredibly confident attitude of knowing cool. These guys are well worth checking out if you haven't already.
They have a few Dublin dates supporting The Urges in August, at Crawdaddy on the 5th and Voodoo Lounge on the 11th, and will then be embarking on their first UK outing, again supporting The Urges, at The Dirty Water Club in London on September 8th. Further details of their upcoming gigs can be found from their recently created myspace page, from where a number of their songs can also be downloaded.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/therevellions

http://www.dirtywaterclub.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/theurges

The Star Department

I first came to notice The Star Department earlier this year when I found some of their demo material while sifting through cpu.ie, a favourite at the time 'Rosary Wheels' really making me sit up and take note, and it was hard to believe that their full lineup only came together in late 2005. With forays from warm indie vocals towards occasional euphoric outbursts and back again, and effortless interchanges of tempo and melodies throughout a background of predominantly indie shoegaze sounds, they have continued to impress those who have listened to it all unfold.

Having already been championed in various sources as "a sonic cavalcade of densely packed melodies and flickering pieces of jangle", "a superb blend of noisy indie rock and euphoric wall-of-sound shoegazing sounds", and "a unique blend of sublime indie-pop and shimmering post-rock", the adulations keep coming from all corners.

A thoroughly absorbing debut EP, Flickering Lights, was released this June, mixed and mastered by the legendary American producer Kramer, whom has allegedly been taken aback by their music and plans to produce the band in the future. The three tracks from this EP can be streamed from their myspace and the EP can be purchased online at Road Records. They have a number of gigs in Dublin over the coming weeks, with perhaps the choice one being at The Boom Boom Room on August 6th, where The Coldspoon Conspiracy and Crayonsmith complete a great lineup on the night.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/thestardepartment

http://www.roadrecs.com

Long Lost Brother

Take a listen to 'A Little At Time' on Long Lost Brother's myspace and at least a part of you will be sure to journey back to the 70s and feel how good rock n'roll was back then. There's a lot of the Stones and Dylan here, and a harmonica led tune that strokes the soul, leading off with lines as down to dirt as "i've been running all over now for just about half my life doing things that i don't even like, i made choices now but darling don't you know, few of them were right." these guys really know how to write a great god honest rock n'roll song.

Long Lost Brother formed a few years ago in Dublin, and independently released their debut double a-side single 'A Little At A Time/Sympathy' in March 2005, a single which received much deserved airplay on many radio stations around the country. Gigging extensively, they have impressed many respected names including the ex-Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell who late last year agreed to produce their second single 'Anywhere But Here', and who undoubtedly leaves his mark in what is a superb rock song which sounds distinctly late-70s.

They continue to gig around Ireland selling their soul a little at a time, but in another great travesty of the rock scene in Ireland, I draw your attention to the all revealing small print on their myspace... Type of label: None.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/longlostbrother

http://artists.cpu.ie/bands/180

The Sting Wrays

Describing their sound as "twangy 60's reverb drenched surf", The Sting Wrays are one of the noisiest rackets ever kicked up by a garage band in the 60s... or at least that is the impression they leave. They are in fact a recent side project of The Urges.

An instrumental thrashy assault of noise with insanely primitive rock n'roll sounds, this is a sound not to be dissected or analysed, but just to be experienced for what it is - an awesome racket with enough force to blast you back to the 60s and make you wonder how it ever got this ferocious. It's all a heinously absorbing clamor, and four of these frenzied instrumentals are available for download from The Sting Wrays myspace.


Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/thestingwrays

The Dirty 9's

I received a demo from The Dirty 9's a few days ago, and have being giving it due listen. While the sound is predominantly clean indie-guitar pop, they do have other facets about them which give them a distinctive sound. Most notable is the presence of an irresistible California veering bluesy guitar melody in their lead track 'The Tease', a track which has a positively upbeat vibe to it, and fuses really well into what is a great little summertime indie pop song of nonchalant rejection.

The other tracks on the demo aren't that bad either, which includes the indie-rock of 'The Weeknight Lovers' and also a dark ballad in 'Fall From Grace', and there is no doubting a strong radio-friendly appeal of The Dirty 9's. I suspect a lot more will be heard of them, in particular due to a likeable vocal style which is somewhat breathy, emotionally open and rather distinctive.


All in all, I'd like to hear The Dirty 9's experiment more with their use of those bluesy guitar melodies into that indie-pop sound however, as it gives them a distinctive attribute, and plays to the strengths of their song writing partnership. Regardless, it is no surprise that the popular Hot Press magazine, often a cheerleader for radio-friendly indie pop music, has recently praised the merits of these guys as "guitar driven indie-pop made for these times", and they will undoubtedly receive a lot more praise from similar quarters in the coming months. These guys could well be on a winner.

The Dirty 9's have been together as a band just since the start of last year, and having gigged some of Dublin’s smaller venues, a high-point came about in March of this year, when they won a battle of the bands competition at Maynooth College, consequently supported The Republic of Loose at a sold-out college event, and later recorded their first demo. The songs from their demo can also be streamed from their myspace.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/thedirty9s

http://www.nme.com/newmusic/the-dirty-9s

Dry County - Nothing Stays In Place EP

Perhaps the most refreshingly unique band emerging in Ireland right now, Dry County are an extremely difficult band to capture in a nutshell, and have been previously described rather noncommittal as "post-everything pop music". To me they sound a bit like Aphex Twin meet dEUS, which doesn't quite hit the nail on the head, but does go some way towards describing this band, as although having a prominent ambient electronica orientation, and an experimentation taken to a level which would normally only hold forte with art-rock, they have a distinctly dreamy indie-rock feel which makes for incredibly good wind-down music.

Released back in 2004, I just picked up their Nothing Stays In Place EP at a gig about four months ago, and it has become a favourite for quiet idle nights, but I struggle to fathom how a band this good remain on the fringes. Indeed their flagship song 'Lost Now', could be the soundtrack to so much great underexposed music around Ireland, where the best of it does not always get it's chance to rise. The beauty of the song remains undiscovered unless you give it the time it deserves. It turns direction several times before settling into the heart of the song, so is one which could easily be overlooked, but it has a fantastic use of overlayed soft vocals and rhythms, and is music which gets better on every listen, with new dimensions unfolding every time.

Dry County are currently completing their debut album which is due for release later this year. There are some demos of their new material for download on their website and myspace, my favourite of which is 'Phantom Pain', another softly woven song which builds to a great noise infestation towards its finish in such a natural direction it almost gathers unnoticed. The track 'Lost Now' from their Nothing Stays In Place EP is also available for download.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/drycounty05

http://www.drycounty.org

http://www.myspace.com/lazybirdrecords

BLACK SOUL STRANGERS

Although emerging on the Dublin scene in 2005 with their self-released debut EP, the subsequent departure of their lead singer late last year has meant Black Soul Strangers have had to regroup to work on new material, with guitarist Barry Gorey taking over on vocals. They recorded an excellent three track demo of new material early this year however, perhaps at their finest in the lyrically superb 'The Soundtrack To Standing Still', and with a good dose of Joy Division in their sound, most noticeably in the bass and vocal delivery of 'You'll Never Get Me Down', they also bare some great influences.


The overall sound on these demo tracks is a touch lightweight for my liking however, which I think could benefit from a slightly grittier and fuller guitar sound, but keeping in mind these are demo recordings, this is possibly too early to pass judgment. There is no doubting the quality of the material, which solid songwriting carries through regardless.

The three tracks from their 2006 demo, 'The Soundtrack To Standing Still', 'You'll Never Get Me Down' and 'Mambo' can be downloaded from their website. They have since been in the studio recording, with their next tour dates apparently planned to coincide with a new release. It could be a very interesting one to watch out for.

Related Links:

http://www.blacksoulstrangers.com

http://www.myspace.com/blacksoulstrangers

Si Schroeder - Lavendermist

Si Schroeder is a rather strange beast to say the least, who conjures electronica-oriented dreamy indie-rock with often masterful experimentalism. Lavendermist, a fine example of his work, can be downloaded from the Si Schroeder myspace. Frail, warm and dreamy, it is driven by an uncommonly infectious bass hook that must be heard to be appreciated.

Lavendermist is taken from Si Schroeder's recently acclaimed debut album, Coping Mechanisms, which was released this year on Trust Me I'm A Thief records. It can be purchased online from Road Records or directly from the Trust Me I'm A Thief records online store.

Si Schroeder is one half of Schroeder's Cat, the quite legendary SY/MBV derivative act which gigged Dublin in the early 90s. Conversely, it is true to say that Si Schroeder is anything but derivative.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/sischroeder

http://www.trustmeimathief.com

http://www.roadrecs.com