House Of Cosy Cushions - Palace For The Lost Ones

House Of Cosy Cushions were once known as 'Amsterdam's best kept secret'. When its creator and driving force Richard Bolhuis moved to Dublin back in 2005 and formed a new House Of Cosy Cushions, with a new and more intense Irish band around him, the alternative music scene in Ireland witnessed a band hitting the ground running, exploding onto the Dublin rock scene.

They make their debut Irish EP release with 'Palace For The Lost Ones', released this October 31st. I received an advance copy from SeaDog Records recently and have been enjoying the listen. The influence which jumps out at me first is Nick Cave, in the vocals, the tone and some of the undercurrent themes, but this is a band best described as 'different'. I could throw in a spread of other influences to include The Velvet Underground and perhaps some of early dEUS, but would miss the mark. What you get with House Of Cosy Cushions is a vibrancy, a chaos of sorts, rock n'roll with a blues trombone, melancholy and mystery, menace and tension.

The lead track from 'Palace For The Lost Ones' is immense. I didn't know what to make of it for the first 80 seconds or so, as it ghosts almost directionless with haunting creaks and scattered trombone before the song emerges from the wilderness with raw headstrong directness 'Sad battered donkey thinks he's in a hospital...' this is a track laced with gothic menace. Guitars weigh in to add crunch to clamor and by the grande finale, I'm hitting '<<' to listen again. As for the rest of the EP, you get the perky and poppy 'Goodybe Tiger' which is the stand-out radio track on the EP, through to the beautifully haunting 'Up and Down The Hill', followed by two live tracks; a delicate and somber folk number in 'Flow' and the rousing rock of 'She's Not Your Witch', all encompassing shows the creative and chaotic dynamics that make up House Of Cosy Cushions. An excellent EP.

A few tracks from House Of Cosy Cushion's EP can be listened to on both the SeaDog Records website and on the House Of Cosy Cushions myspace and sonicbids pages, while a video to 'Palace for the Lost Ones' will be available for viewing from the SeaDog Records website in the coming weeks. A busy gigging schedule sees them continue to gig across Ireland over the coming months, details of which can be found on their myspace. The EP is out on October 31st.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/houseofcosycushions

http://www.sonicbids.com/houseofcosycushions

http://www.seadogrecords.com