Beoga – Carousel
Not quite an album, but more than an EP, Carousel marks Beoga’s first release since 2016’s Before We Change Our Mind. Although Beoga have been touring and recording for what seems like ages, they picked up a lot of new…
Category : Music Reviews
Joel Harkin – Never Happy
It’s impossible to speak about Joel Harkin without mentioning how he’s become a central figure in the Belfast music scene. Prior to the lockdown he was featured on BBC Radio 1, nominated for a Northern Ireland Music Prize, hit multiple…
Simon Herron – The Remnants Of A Thought
In the artist’s debut release ‘Remnants of a Thought’, Derry born Simon Herron, who found viral success with 2013 singles ‘All You Know’ and ‘A September Song’, develops his signature brand of deeply personal and melancholic alt-folk. The long-awaited project…
Baleful Creed – The Lowdown
Baleful Creed play a brand of southern metal reminscient of Down without the Anselmo scream served with a touch of early Soundgarden and a heaped pinch of Iron Maiden. To an outsider, you might be surprised to learn that they…
False Friends – A Great Day For The Parish
The opening bars of ‘God on a Hill’, first track from False Friend’s EP ‘A Great Day for the Parish’, let rip, delivering an infectious blend of indie, synthesizer, pop filled guitar tunes and that, all in, is a perfect…
The Skallions – Skallion Battalion
Stuck in the house with no end in sight, spending days on endless work video conferences and e-mails, losing track of which day it is. Welcome, my friends, to another week of Covid-19 lockdown. But, as they say, every cloud…
Junk Drawer – Ready For The House
Opening slowly with a drawn out droll, ‘What I’ve Learned/ What I’m Learning’, makes it clear that Junk Drawer are setting up an unsettling, menacing ride – with the first guitar churn sounding eerily similar to that weird noise that…
Malojian – Humm
Commeth the hour, commeth the man. What a time for a new Malojian album to drop. Long in the gestation, sudden in the release, Stephen Scullion has been working on this little gem since 2019’s tour with Grandaddy’s Jason Lyttle….
St. Alban – St. Alban
Folk music is, and has always been, about collaboration. Whether it’s one artist building off the artists who have made an impression before them, or the unique shared stages at folk festivals around the world. That’s probably why St. Alban’s…
Arborist – A Northern View
We live in a unique part of the world. Our views about what it means to live in Northern Ireland today are diverse and conflicted and torn. Arguably more so than ever post-Brexit. But still we love it, and know…
The Darkling Air – Ancestor
The Darkling Air is the happy result of the coming together of two veterans to the Irish creative scene. Forming as an independent duo in 2013, Michael Keeney and Rachel McCarthy previously worked together on the production side of albums…
Brand New Friend – A Cure For Living
Castlerock five-piece Brand New Friend’s new EP, ‘A Cure For Living’, is a burst of sunshine-pop melodies and lovesick lyrics. Across seven short and sweet tracks, we ride a musical wave, from speedy guitar riffs and crashing cymbals, to dreamy…
SX-70 – Empty Vessels
Belfast based Indie outfit SX-70, who impressed in reaching the final stages of the Chordblossom Kickstart band competition, released their latest EP ‘Empty Vessels’ early in 2020. It draws on their own musical influences with a lingering mix of swirling,…
Matt McGinn – Lessons Of War
It was in the Black Box in April 2018 that Matt McGinn debuted some of the music and ideas that would eventually become Lessons of War, alongside a “making of” documentary directed by local film maker Colm Laverty. Full of…
Happy Out – Is, Was, Wasn’t
Much has been made of this post-rock trio from Letterkenny. A popular spawning point for some of Irelands most underrated underground acts (see Sheerbuzz), the latest act to ride the wave anti-establishment post-genrefication is Happy Out. With a cult following spurred…