The Star Department - Auditions

The Star Department, who released quite an outstanding debut EP last year in Flickering Lights, release their new mini-album Auditions this March on CableAttack Records. I've been listening through the album the past few weeks, and enjoying the indulgence, looking forward to writing something about it.

Again, we have a fractured gem of near highest quality, or an album of fractured gems, depending on which way you want to look at it. In typical Star Department fashion, tracks are spread further within themselves than they are to each other. From the outset in 'The Morning After' we are presented with vague aching bewilderments that run as a theme through a lot of the EP "well if you don’t need that, then you don't anything, but everybody needs something". With the Star Department you get an emotive indie backbone, but layered with shoegaze shimmerings, and while each track is quite impressively unstructured, and fractured into itself, they tend to flow into each other quite seamlessly. It would seem at first that the second track 'Sandcastles' attempts to shift the tone, introducing itself with a positively uplifting melody, but the true story lies in the lyric and vocals "you might as well let go of this" "like an old man kicking over sandcastles as the child drowns in the sea, just be stronger, make it easier and let go" "its not natural". The melody is there as a taunting reflection of the past, the mood more one of uncomfortable compassion. In 'Time Passes' we get another track which works its way under the skin with suggestion "wipe yourself off the floor" "you walk sideways and your dreams you can keep", while in 'The Sky Will Fall' we have a track bursting with emotional draw of an impending sense of past catching up despite regrets. Fifth track 'Palettes' opens with a sparse melody, suggesting a moment of clarity, but embroiled with a caution that "matchstick man will burn you again, a desperate man, works in desperate ways" it becomes clearer that this album surrounds a lot of darkness despite being one that will more than likely be embraced by most who hear it. A lot of people won't fully get it. Most people won't need to. On the surface, The Start Department offer quite a brilliant sonic and emotive outlay of unstructured indie-shoegaze crossover forays, and it's difficult not to fall into its charm. Underneath it all, themes run quite a bit deeper.

Tracks from the mini-album can be streamed from their myspace, where the track 'Embers' from last year's EP can also still be downloaded.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/thestardepartment

http://www.cableattack.com

Secret Police - Bootie Call

Limerick's Secret Police release their debut single 'Bootie Call' this March 2nd. Despite some good press, I hadn’t been expecting a lot from it. My first experience of them was back at an IMRO showcase about a year ago, where at the time I was left unimpressed; an over-indulgence in the old Pearl Jam influence I thought, not enough originality, and nothing particularly special, and I declined mentioning them here in favour of some of the other bands who performed that same night.

Well, the Secret Police have been evolving and growing from strength to strength over the past year, and I have to say they've proved me wrong with this, their Bootie Call. They're still not the most original band around, but this is quite an excellent single. Long shaken off is the over-indulgence in Pearl Jam - actually a Foo Fighter's influence is more noticeable now - but leaving comparisons aside, Bootie Call is an infectious rock track in itself - loud, melodic and quite anthemic, and although I've a tendency to dislike the more rawk-ego side of rock vocals, this it powered forward by the gravely vocals of front-man Pete Mullins impressively, in a way that gives the song and the band a signature well worth shouting about.

The band play their single launch gig in Limerick at Baker's Place this Saturday, March 3rd, and follow it up with a number of shows around Ireland throughout the month. The single can be streamed from both their myspace page and website, while other material they have online shows some diversity in what they're doing these days. They're proving to be quite an impressive band after all.

Related Links:

http://www.secretpolice.ie

http://www.myspace.com/thesecretpolice

http://www.nme.com/newbands/secret-police

http://thesecretpolice.bebo.com

Hooray For Humans

Emerging out of Cork City late last year as a come together of musicians who previously performed with other bands from the city, Hooray For Humans have had a lot of people talking about them of late as one of the best new bands on the Irish music scene, and featured on Hot Press magazine recently amongst others written about here on Frequency-Ireland last year as "Ones to Watch" for 2007. So what do you get with Hooray For Humans? Indie fun and punk-pop attitude.

While the demo material they’ve had online hadn’t quite captured my imagination, catching them live this weekend impressed considerably more, where they played support to Crayonsmith at Baker’s Underground in Limerick. Actually, I was quite taken aback by how good they were. This is a band bubbling over with fun attitude; quite casual, yet with an assured indie-rock confidence of knowing what they’re doing is quite cool. They slot in somewhere between a less minimalist Blood Red Shoes and a semi-modernised B52s, although their influences lie elsewhere in Robocop Kraus, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Postal Service, Sonic Youth, Pavement, MBV and so on. Recently signed up to Out On A Limb Records, they are currently writing material for their debut album, which is targeted for release towards the end of this year. In the meanwhile, do yourself a huge favour and catch Hooray For Humans live if you have not done so already.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/hoorayforhumansband

http://www.outonalimbrecords.com

Cowboy X

With a well received debut album last year in 'Who Are These People?’, which received quite unanimous appraisal in the media in Ireland, two singles, and their first UK tour last November, Cowboy X had a busy year in 2006, and hardly need any introduction here. I've read a lot of nonsense written about them however, so perhaps we're overdue pitching in an opinion here.

For all their refreshingly electro guitar-pop sound, and alluring vocals in Karen McCartney, the album as a whole falls a bit flat and has a formulaic ring to it. In such light, it's not a surprise to see that two of the band members also involve in the production of soundtrack music. Harsh, perhaps, as this hasn't stopped the band amassing quite a massive fan base online, but to me it's all quite comparable to Garbage with a sophistication-complex, gone a touch soft. Actually, in Gabbi, a single taken from the album, they almost sound borderline Dubstar.

However, when they do get it right, as in track '2nd Second', they can be quite irresistibly delicious. The recently made video to this track can be viewed on their myspace page, and is well worth the visit for, while sound nuggets from all the album tracks can be streamed from their website. For those suitably impressed, the album can be purchased directly from their website and myspace page.

Related Links:

http://www.cowboyxmusic.com

http://www.myspace.com/cowboyxmusic

Lords of the Empty Ballroom

The rather superbly titled 'Lords of the Empty Ballroom', in both name and nature, evoke vivid images of isolation and abandonment, moving from deconstructed soundscapes to a gothic morose. The sound is one which is quite chillingly described as 'music to drown by'. Uncomfortable with the analogy but intrigued by the sound and imagery, I've been listening in today.

Including the likes of William S. Burroughs amongst influences, it should not be a surprise to see some fine lyrical slights here - 'if you have to break my heart, then throw my eyes away' one such moment, taken from track 'St Remy'. However, skipping over this, and beyond two soundscapes in 'Sorrows New Day' and 'Static FM', the choice track of those currently presented on myspace is 'Sienna'.

In 'Sienna' you'll notice the influence of Nick Cave, again with some impressive lyrical slight of phrase - 'lonely dancing in the crowd, you're the last one here now', it is built over a simple but effective gothic melody which grows on one uncontained like a poison ivy, and overall sounding quite disturbing, dangerously terminal, yet enchanting, lyrically it is perhaps more akin to Ian Curtis. With some studio time booked in March, expect an impressive EP later this year.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/lordsoftheemptyballroom

Vertigo Smyth
On one of the more intimate nights in Baker's Underground in Limerick since this new venue opened, Vertigo Smyth played as guest to Windings late last year, just before the Christmas reigned in. On the night, live, it was one man and his songs, armed with no more than an acoustic guitar, a pickup and an effects pedal, for a characteristically warm lo-fi sound. Vertigo Smyth of course has done the circuit in Ireland at low key venues many times now, and also plays with The Terribles, so no stranger to the intimacy of the small stage. It was however, the first time I've been there to catch him live.

In Vertigo Smyth you get a bedroom Beatles, a bit of Bowie and doses of retro-indie, while justified comparisons with Jeff Buckley have also been made in the past, not just in terms of style, but in his ability to write songs which reach out. The song which caught my attention then as it does now listening back to the material online is 'Rock Out' and its open expression of heartbreak and romance with music 'you're my bloody valentine, you're my jesus and mary chain' - how could it be better put? Tracks available online include 'Rock Out' and 'The Button Sellers Song' both taken from a Triptych DVD from 2005, while a fine demo in 'Broken Things' shows a more experimental side. If you have a love/hate relationship with The Beatles - love your retro indie-pop, but hate a polished production, and if you find yourself being drawn into listening to Jeff Buckley for his honesty in songwriting, but prefer music in the live setting - then Vertigo Smyth is a willing solution to your dilemma.

Edit: Vertigo Smyth is lined up to play at Frequency-Ireland's pilot event in Daffy's International Bar in Limerick on SAT 14th APRIL with Windings, The Hollows and LPX. Details of this event can be found on the Frequency-Ireland myspace page.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/vertigosmyth

My Invention - Lo-Fireworks EP

One of the more impressive bands in Ireland of late in my opinion are Kilkenny based band My Invention, who independently released an excellent 5 track EP last year in Lo-Fireworks, tracks from which can be listened to on their myspace page. Although I've yet to explore their back catalogue (which includes some 4 EPs and an album), the recent EP has apparently been a change in direction for them, with a more lo-fi approach and dirtier sound when compared to their earlier offerings. What you get now is a melancholic indie-rock band with shoegaze tendencies, and it's right up my street in terms of music I like to settle into.

Influences I hear range from Grandaddy to dEUS, Sparklehorse to Yo La Tengo, Mercury Rev to Pavement, and many other fine bands in between. An additional aspect about My Invention though is their lyrical strength, with songs which often contain strikingly thoughtful subtleties, such as the bemused sense of desertion conjoured by Jellyfire, one of the more delicate tracks on Lo-Fireworks. Alas, after what had been quite a successful year for them on the back of that EP, they called it a day over a month ago due to personal circumstances within the band. However, all My Invention members are presently working on other projects now, so all is not lost. News on some of these new projects to follow later.

"When the Sun goes down in this town, you can still feel its ghost heating up the street, and there's nothing left to do in this town, honestly."
- Jellyfire, My Invention.

Related Links:

http://www.myinvention.ie

http://www.myspace.com/myinvention

De Novissimis

This is unlikely to appeal to any regular readers of Frequency-Ireland, but for the benefit of variety, a mention now for De Novissimis, whose 2005 debut EP was one of a number of hardcore-metal releases sent on by Rimbaud Records for digestion (indigestion) recently. De Novissimis are undoubtedly one of Ireland’s heaviest bands at the moment. They sound like a slow lurching evil, with doom laden satanic themes growled out with menacing vocals over deathly slow stoner riffs, although every now and then the double bass kicks in, the pace of riffs is upped four fold, and in those moments they're almost like a direct descendant of Morbid Angel. It's all quite disturbing, like an ensemble of possessed incarnates.


Actually, to me they sound quite a bit like a stoned-up death metal band. I went through a short phase of listening to bands such as Morbid Angel and Obituary back in my mid-teens (quite embarrasing as it is looking back now), and it's easy to relate back the similarities. Despite the comparisons however, they don't seem to have much to do with the metal scene here in Ireland, apparently sitting more comfortably with hardcore-punks, and fitting in with the resurgence in doom and slow heavy stoner bands. They've been compared by those more familiar with the genre to the likes of Corrupted, Burning Witch and Boris. I listened through the EP just once, and am unlikely to again, it's not a genre that interests me at all these days. Perhaps I should just now donate it to a local church group to see what they make of it, I'm sure they'd love something to get riled about.

The 2005 EP was a limited edition release of 500 copies, which is by now almost sold out. More recently, they released a split single with Tungsta on Rimbaud Records. For the curious, a track from De Novissimis can be downloaded from the Rimbaud Records website - although please note you have been warned!

Related Links:

http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=82483

http://www.rimbaudrecords.com

http://www.myspace.com/rimbaudrecords

http://www.superfirecords.co.uk

Dark Room Notes - Love Like Nicotine

Considered by some to be one of Ireland's best kept secrets at the moment, Dark Room Notes release their debut single 'Love Like Nicotine' next month.

What you get is radiant electro-indie-pop which has been likened before to both New Order and The Human League, though overall they are more uplifting in purpose, and have veerings into Muse rock territory at times, and while I'll decline joining their posse of cheerleaders as a fan of their music, I'll concede that Love Like Nicotine is a quality single, quite vibrant and emphatic, sounding custom made for both radio and dance-floor alike. It could well break them into the spotlight.

Worth mentioning also is an interesting remix of the single by Flood (New Order, Depeche Mode, The Killers, U2) included as a b-side, which experiments with sparsity, static and samples, bursts into a brief pulsating chorus mid-way through before tripping back into quite a cool breezy female vocal suiting 'its a love like nicotine yeah' over building static to a close. Not a version for everyone, but it does offer a good alternate take to its more commercially viable a-side.

Love Like Nicotne will be released on Gonzo Records, an Independent Record Label based in Dublin. The single launch takes place at Crawdaddy on 24th March. The single and remix can be streamed from their myspace page.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/darkroomnotesireland

http://www.myspace.com/gonzorecords

The Balducci Lift - Threerock Sessions EP

The Balducci Lift is an experimental-folk band from Dublin that grew and matured over the years out of being a teenage grunge-metal band back in the 90's. These days they are a lot more mellowed. They got in touch with me recently to raise my awareness about their recent Threerock Sessions EP.


This could be described as suave bedroom folk with an offbeat indie groove. Some comparisons could be drawn with Gomez too, although I'd rather not draw that parallel too far, as they are quite different - not just in The Balducci Lift's marked use of vocal harmonies, which they drift in and out of quite a lot in their songs, but in an overall impression that they are a bit more up-town, particularly with song 'The Here and Now', which is the one that has received most attention to date, and to which they have created their first video for.

It's not the sort of music I'd usually listen to, but it does have it's appeal, and track 'Hey One' which eases along effortlessly in a more carefree indie spirit, is my choice of them, although the charming 'All For The Love Of A Girl', which rounds off the EP, also has its merits. I'd pitch this as pleasant music to get sleepy to; dreamy music, lulling and loose. All three tracks from the Threerock Sessions EP can be previewed from their myspace page, where the aforementioned video to 'The Here and Now' can also be viewed, while further information on the band can also be found on their website and sellaband page.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/muttonhooper

http://www.sellaband.com/thebalduccilift

http://www.thebalduccilift.com

Fight Like Apes

Giving us a quirky new-wave punk with equal cut of humour and aggression, Fight Like Apes are emerging with tempestuouly bolstered songs built on synth and digitised fuzz over driving bass lines and tight punk beats, and are easily one of the most promising punk bands to come out of Dublin for quite some time.

Leading off with the line 'I wanna cut you with glass...' early flagship song 'lend me your face' is a piece of punk brilliance. Led by the semi-psychotic female vocals of May Kay, which flit from a sweetness in anger and effortless tease to sheer loutish angst, they've got abundance of adrenalin.


Although defiantly new-wave punk, the majority of their influences seem to lie in the indie-rock and shoegaze genres, with the likes of Pavement, Yo La Tengo, My Bloody Valentine and Chapterhouse listed off in their mainstay of influences. I hear everything from Patti Smith to Sonic Youth in Fight Like Apes, but they're not a band I would comfortably nail with any such 'sounds like' tag - and that in itself is surely a sign of a band doing something special.

They've three independently produced demo tracks currently streamable from their myspace page, including the afore-mentioned 'lend me your face', plus tracks 'jake summers' and 'battlestations'. I'll edge towards 'battlestations' as my favourite of the three, but all are quite strong. A number of gigs are lined up over the coming month in Dublin, Cork and Belfast, with details to be found on their myspace page.

Related Links:

http://www.myspace.com/fightlikeapesmusic

http://artists.cpu.ie//bands/1545/