LPX - Easy Music For Difficult Ears

LPX (Lube: Project X) is the electronica/dub sounds of Leigh O'Gormon, the man behind The Electric Fix shows in Dublin. Easy Music For Difficult Ears is the limited edition 3-track EP released this month on his own label. Leigh sent me on the EP for a listen, and while not a genre I am overly familiar with, I've found it quite an agreeable EP and one well deserving of a writeup here.

Opening with 'Wasps In A Honey Trap' you get a haunting ambient electronica pervaded by slow crunched beats, which on first listen didn't do much for me, but the haunting aspect grows on repeat listens. The EP then gathers some pace with the sifting rhythms of 'Paper Lanterns' before leading into the highlight of the EP as far as I'm concerned; a momentous closing track in 'Ledge', this one builds in intensification with swirling noise and menacing beats which brisk towards a deathly climax. Dark and coursing, it has a strong DIV influence, and is a perfect climax to an EP that builds in chase and intensity throughout.

The EP was credited with 'single of the week' by Road Records when it was released, where it received a rave review by someone more familiar with the genre. LPX comparisons drawn favorably there with other Irish electronica artists such as The Last Sound and Chequerboard, I'm now tempted to explore the genre a little further. If one or two more electronica artists feature here at some point, it will be partly due to LPX opening these ears a little further than they normally go.

Easy Music For Difficult Ears can be purchased from Road Records, while some other material is available on the LPX myspace, and where details of upcoming LPX shows can be found. The Electric Fix myspace lists details of other upcoming shows run by Leigh, encompassing much of the best alternative indie, punk and electronica music around Ireland today.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/lpxireland

http://www.myspace.com/the_electric_fix

The Band of Cloud

The Band of Cloud is 'the collective umbrella-like moniker for the musical projects of Padraig O'Connor and musical friends'. After stopping by to listen to some of the material on offer on his myspace earlier this week I was taken aback by a real gem here in 'Porcelain Doll'. Velvet Underground classics such as 'Sunday Morning' and 'Candy Says' jump out as clear inspiration. The song gels that tainted elegance of The Velvet Underground with some of the psychedelic pop draw of mid-to-late era Beatles. It is accompanied by a home video which adds to its indie appeal, where words such as 'enchanting' and 'captivating' immediately come to mind. A real gem (there, I've said it twice), highly recommended.

As for the remainder of the material on offer at the moment, you get a rather quaint 60s style pop ballad in 'These Times', two very Beatles-esqe acoustic numbers in 'Tumbling Monday' and 'Cream Seems Fine', both of which illustrate a lot more McCartney than Lennon in influence, and a dreadful a capella moment in 'That's Your Time' which is one best avoided.

It is mainly on the strength of 'Porcelain Doll' that I'm interested on hearing more material from The Band of Cloud, but there are enough moments in the rest to hold interest regardless. Apparently unsigned with no released material as of yet, a few upcoming shows are listed on his myspace.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/padraigoconnor

The Spikes - In Love No More

Firmly in the old school of rock n'roll, Dublin-based four-piece The Spikes bare the sound of The Doors, 70s Rolling Stones and The Who amongst others, but with some of the attitude and punk energy of The Ramones. A biography on their website boldly states "The Spikes were formed to save the world from crap music and through modern rock n roll they plan to do this." If called upon to do so, they could well manage it. The Spikes are a damn good rock n'roll band.


The Spikes are a band not to be missed out on, sleazy, energetic and compulsive, they've been playing some rousing gigs around the country this year. Formed in New Zealand in 2004 before moving to Ireland, they have quickly built up a lot of admirers, and released their debut single "Monster" back in July to much critical acclaim. They release their second single "In Love No More" this November. Expect this single to gain on the successes of its predecessor. A rather excellent single with a massive Jim Morrison influence, this band are quickly establishing themselves as a downright top quailty rock n'roll band in Ireland. A few videos are available to stream from their myspace, including some live footage and the video to "In Love No More", while several tracks are available for download from their website. Essential listening for fans of The Doors, and a recommended indulgance for others regardless. The video to "In Love No More" has also been added to those currently streaming from the Frequency-Ireland myspace.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/thespikesmusic

http://thespikes.net

The Fewer The Better

The Fewer The Better, regularly touted as one of Ireland's best unsigned bands in the media, fuse classic rock tendencies with punk rock attitude. They've been likened before to play with Hendrix-esque lead guitar and vocals which are reminiscent of Jim Morrisson, though delivering "songs Sid Vicious never wrote and have a strong Stooges vibe". I'm not so sure I'd agree with that last bit, but there is definitely quite a lot of punk attitude in there, particularly as a live band. An influence I do hear that I haven't heard many pick up on is The John Spencer Blues Explosion, although mainly just in their flagship song "Disco Spaceship".

In some of their other material, these guys drift way too close to classic rock in my book. Of the other tracks available to download from their website at the moment, I can hear brushes of Zeppelin in their track "Gone", while in "Blue Pill" there's definite Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blue Oyster Cult, and given these influences coming to the fore, regardless of how good these guys are at what they do, it'll never sit well with me. The video to "Disco Spaceship", which can be found on their website and myspace, is well worth checking out however for those who haven't seen it before. They're currently working on their second album. While I'd hope to see them move in the more punked-up direction of "Disco Spaceship" than overly play on the classic rock sound, I'm not entirely convinced they will. Time will tell.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/thefewerthebetterband

http://www.thefewerthebetter.com

Panda Kopanda

A mention again for Panda Kopanda, who finally release The Ocean Of Fire EP on 27th November, through Cableattack!! Records, an EP I had reviewed here on Frequency-Ireland back in August in advance of some tour dates around that time. The earlier review can be read here.



I caught them live at Limerick Boatclub around that time, on what was a miserably wet Sunday night in late August where a rather poor turnout saw them playing as support to Redjetson, along with emerging Dublin band envelope. I was actually there specifically to see envelope live, a band I had also previously reviewed here and had rated quite highly. I left much more impressed by Panda Kopanda.

Although I arrived late, missing half of Panda Kopanda's set, of what I caught, by comparison, Panda Kopanda gelled really well as a live unit. Perhaps it helped that they finished with what I believe is their best track yet in "Open Ground" from their forthcoming EP, but I was pleasantly surprised. I guess I should just listen to people more when they advise Panda Kopanda are a very fine live band. In general however, as I pointed out before, Panda Kopanda can sound a touch safe for my general tastes, but its hard not to appreciate their quirky slakerdom, and to be objective about it, I'd be very surprised if this EP does not receive the same massive critical acclaim from all corners just as its predecessor has done. The video to 'About My Temper' the lead track from The Ocean Of Fire EP has been added to those currently streaming from the Frequency-Ireland myspace.

Related Links:

http://www.pandakopanda.com

http://www.myspace.com/pandakopanda

http://www.cableattack.com

My Corduroy

Overdue a quick write-up here are My Corduroy. I caught a gig of theirs earlier this year where they opened at an IRMO showcase. These guys really impressed, exuding confidence and stage presence with a massive rock intensity. OK, perhaps I should say rawk intensity. At their most rock moments they're a bit like a new wave metal underground equivalent to early Pearl Jam. As someone who has never been particularly fond of Pearl Jam, that should be enough to put me off My Corduroy, but it doesn't, well not entirely anyway. They'll never be a favourite of mine, but they're too good an emerging band to pass up on mentioning here.

Perhaps I'm doing them an injustice with such a strong Pearl Jam comparison however, as they don't list them amongst their main influences, instead favouring Arcade Fire, AC/DC and Interpol, with no mention of the grungemeisters influence that I hear in a lot of their songs. Hmmm...

They've four tracks available to download from their myspace and other sites. “We Create Monsters” and “Robin vs Batman” are two early favourites, while the more delicate “This Isn't Me” shows another side to them that I haven't seen before. They released their debut single “Kings of the Food Chain” a few months back, which to me was rather disappointing by comparison, menacing grunge-rawk with an industrial-metal edge, but its attempt at a killer anthem was a bit uninspirational.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/mycorduroy

http://www.mycorduroy.com

http://my-corduroy.bebo.com

http://www.cpu.ie/my_corduroy

Channel One - Permissions EP

Channel One, Dublin's experimental electro-rock band, have just finished recording their debut EP "Permissions" which will be released in the UK and Ireland in January 2007. Some tracks can already be streamed from their myspace, including the excellent “Rhythm and Purpose”, an electronica shoegaze-esqe track where echoes of Joy Division can be heard, and is quite possibly their finest moment yet.


Their sounds have been described as intense, dramatic and emotive, and as a live unit they churn out an impressive wall of noise fusing live guitars with synth and drum samples, although their debut single from earlier this year "Accelerate, Break" while a fine track had drifted towards a more radio-accessible 80s retro electro-rock sound. I've preferred some of their other material, in particular, "Damage Imitation", a demo track from 2005 with an almost foreboding intensity, which brought them a lot of admirers (a few versions of this demo seem to be in circulation - the one I refer to appears to be only available streamed in lo-bitrate from their old CPU space). Channel One have comfortably experimented with a number of styles within their electro-rock sphere over the past few years from shoegaze to electro-punk, and its a pleasure to see some of these more ambitious ideas come to fruition in the newer material made available from "Permissions", in what promises to be an excellent EP.

The Channel One website is well worth a visit, where several other earlier tracks are available for download, and where their video podcast service can be subscribed to, with live footage of the band and some other video clips available, including the video to "Accelerate-Break".

Related Links:

http://www.channelonesound.com

http://www.myspace.com/channelonesound

http://artists.cpu.ie//bands/20/

Walter Mitty and The Realists @ The Boatclub's End

On a disheartening day for both the Limerick rock scene and the underground music scene in Ireland in general, at least from a local perspective, I was in attendance at Limerick Boatclub for what was the final gig before closure of this fabulous venue.

The bill on the closing night was headlined by Donegal's Berkeley, with support from Limerick's The Fewer The Better, plus guests Walter Mitty and The Realists. A writeup on the excellent and much touted grunge-indie-rock of Berkeley some other time. A writeup on The Fewer The Better soon too, but here I must give due credit to Walter Mitty and The Realists.



What you get with Walter Mitty and The Realists is grunge/metal-influenced underground alt-punk with an uncontained psychotic engery, a band loaded with natural adrenalin. What strikes me most about this band is the vocal delivery. You'll hear influences of Kurt Cobain, Frank Black and Anthony Kiedis here, but none stick - here is a uniquely frentic, psychotic vocal style all in itself. Envelop this in grunge-metal riffs, add occasional semi-acoustic sounds and the use of a double bass, and mix in rather jivey hooks burried into the metal-grunge and you start to get the fuller picture. This is a band with a lot of creative abilty that deserve all the exposure they can get. On the night they punked out to a full house. Live, they seemed even more psychoctic and heavier than their demo recordings suggest. This is a little known band, unsigned, with nothing released, but one to watch.

They've four demos which can be download from their myspace profile. Check this band out. For a band just emerging, these guys are really good. I probably use the word 'infectious' too often, but these guys have an adrenalin which really is, with choice demos to download - 'Pocket Size Edition Boy' and 'Down Dawn Dogs'.

Limerick Boatclub has been a unique rock venue, crucial in providing an outlet for the often lesser appreciated bands on the Irish music scene, not to mention drawing acts from much farther afield, and a venue which will be sorely missed. I cannot overstate that. This venue was special. One hopes the management team behind it find a new home soon and continue their much appreciated work.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/waltermittyandtherealists

gerry nobody

After sifting through the Gerry Nobody back-catalogue over the past week or so on his Mperia space, I've come to realise that there is a genius here that is all too often overlooked. Parallels with Daniel Johnston pour from everywhere in what he does. This is a man minimalist to a purpose and emotionally intense, he has been acknowledged by Daniel Johnston himself as 'a man over the edge'. Also just like Daniel Johnston, he is obsessively creative, and has amassed five albums over the past four years, including an extensive cover album of early Daniel Johnston recordings, clearly a massive inspiration for him. Wading through his material can be tough ordeal however, I find a lot of it quite unlistenable, as he experiments with genres on a whim, seemingly, and which perhaps only the most ardent of listeners could withstand, but of those songs where it does all come together, you get some exceptionally open and fragile songs which are really worth digging for.

He released his fifth album 'Barking at the sea' earlier this year, preceeded by the single taken from it 'Someday your surrendered life will count'. The real gem on that album however is the penultimate track 'Barking at the sea Part Two', an epic song of disillusionment and despondency, professing ‘the more i try the less i get by and i can't help but feel i'm getting nowhere, as meaningful as my dog barking out at the emptieness‘ while in other lyrics revealing an everyday struggle not to throw himself into the sea. Disquietingly brilliant. Working back through his earlier material, on the album 'The late worm avoids the early bird', the lead track 'A 1000 men' is a certain stand-out, but the real special moment on the album is perhaps 'My Hole', in what is a beautifully twee and brittle nerdcore ballad. On the album 'Wonders Will Never Cease' you get a bleak tale of modern isolation in 'She loves TV more than me', which with a stroke of genius, fades with contra-parody to the Beatles 'She love you', while the 70s rock of 'Wonderful empty world' should also not be overlooked. His 2003 eponymous debut album brought one of his most memorable tracks in 'I think you're great' and the bare stripped-out punk of 'Someone up there hates us', while his Daniel Johnston cover album also has some really fine moments, perhaps none better than its lead track 'Loner'.

All tracks from these albums can be streamed from the Gerry Nobody Mperia space, while there are other outtakes and covers which can be downloaded from his website. If minimalist downbeat music appeals to you, I'd recommend starting from some of the songs mentioned above and branching out from there, undoubtedly you'll find your own gems along the way. Gerry Nobody is the creation of Gerard Farrell, an Irish artist/writer-turned-musician from Tallaght in Dublin. All his material is self-produced, where the minimalist style always sounds a fitting and intrinsic part of his music, that of a true artist at work.

Related Links:

http://www.mperia.com/artists/gerry_nobody

http://members.lycos.co.uk/gerardfarrell/news.html

http://www.rejectedunknown.com/store/indie.htm

http://www.myspace.com/gerrynobody