Kerbdog were that rarest of things, a hip Irish act who had songs that actually rocked. They first made their impact as Britpop held sway and carved out their own particular rock niche thats stayed long in the ears of their fans and critics alike. Veterans of the Irish music scene, the Kilkenny rockers made a serious dent in the Irish music landscape back in the 90s before spliting in 1998, going on to form Wilt, and then reforming for a number of live shows since 2005. It’s 15 years since the release of their seminal album ‘On the Turn’ and they’re playing a series of Irish dates. I spoke to Darragh Butler about the band, getting back together and what the future holds for Kerbdog

Fans are suitably delighted with the upcoming shows. How did the new gigs come about?

We are asked every day to do stuff, sometimes the stars align and it makes sense. Long story short, we love playing, love catching up, but we individually lead very different, very busy lives at the moment so hence the small number of gigs we do these days. We will play whenever we can. We’re also aware that we cannot play the two albums for ever so unfortunately turn down 10 times more than we accept.

Is it a strange experience to be playing together again?

It can be. We get on great, we were close friends before the band, and still are. I spent pretty much everyday with Battle and Billy since we were nine years old, then getting to know Colin through indie cover bands before Kerbdog. That will always be there. Through Kerbdog relationships took a battering but its like the early days again, doing it for nothing more than a party with your buddies, creating havoc and blowing as many people away as we can:)
When we play the first tune at rehearsal, normally we are looking at each other laughing, remembering various incidents or shenanigans the song became linked to or associated with, or the fact we’re in a remote studio on the middle of nowhere, not playing with Helmet, Therapy, living in LA or wherever. Then, the tunes take over, and its all about that. Certain Kerbdog tunes are fun, like Sally, they make us smile for all the right reasons. Some tunes are darker, like severed or end of green, I when hearing and playing these, and I know the boys, even though we never talk about it feel a little sad for different reasons. We were all affected by what happened to some extent. Its good to feel something from your songs, we always had the fear that would have dissipated. That would be a depressing empty experience. Ultimately, playing as we have done over the last few years have put a lot of the demons in their box and fun has raised its welcome head, again. Bristol earlier this year was possibly the happiest gig we ever did. We enjoy it again, a lot!

It’s hard to believe that it’s fifteen years since ‘On the turn’. It’s a really popular record. What do you think has been the key to it’s longevity?

Its a great record. Its got some huge tunes on there, lots of energy and recorded by the best rock engineer/producer on the planet, Gggarth Richardson mixed by an equally talented Joe Bareisi. I remember an Interview back then, when we know we had gone way over budget recording it in Los Angeles. We were asked what we wanted from the record.
The response is something we can be proud of in 15 years. Job done. Commercially it didn’t get what it deserved as it took so long to write and record, the team at the label pushing for Kerbdog had in the waiting left, been fired etc. Bar the UK rock press we got pretty much no coverage, especially on national Radio. Being Irish was always a hindrance there with radio. Naturally UK stations will play UK bands. (Wilt got b listed until they found out who were were). My only regret is we didn’t spend enough time in the US, we were making big waves there, and there was a proper rock scene with all our peers involved, people got us, then we came back. “Oi, who do you prefer, Oasis or Blur” and that was pretty much that….

Because of all the above, there has always been a big admiration for the record, people believe its better than a lot of “big” albums, its never got any support and we never got the chance to tour it properly. We never got the chance turn crap and destroy it like most bands do which also helped. On The Turn was ahead of its time in the UK. Both albums have just been re-issued, maybe the penny will drop this time haha:)

What can we expect from the Kerbdog live experience in 2012?

We will be playing a bunch of tracks from both albums, the Dublin show will be the entire On The Turn album played in reverse. Looking forward to this as there’s a few tracks we haven’t played since ’96. Most shows are sold out or selling out so its going to be buzzing with energy. We’ll have the rocking Zero Pilot from Bristol on board for both Dublin and London. Also I’ll have the bizarre role of supporting Kerbdog, playing with Souls, which also features Billy from Kerbdog. Think I’ll resort to my powerbar vodka combo for that! Billy will be joining us on stage during the Kerbdog set too. It feels amazing that we can turn up 15 years later and sell out venues. There will be an additional 3 shows early 2013. Its purely down to our hardcore fans that we can take time out and do this every once in a while. Some vindication right there.

As veterans of the Irish scene what advice would you have for any bands starting off?

Write good tunes, be super critical, opinions outside the band are wrong. Dump the mediocrity, practice hard. Do what you do well, don’t try be someone else. Don’t feel you are owed anything, your not. If you are on the dole you are NOT a professional musician, get in the van. Get off Facebook, your group of friends telling you how great you are doesn’t matter, go convince the strangers. Don’t do it for money. Value your family and friends at home. There’s no “I” in band. Split everything evenly. Go see Therapy or Metallica, that’s how a live show works. Enjoy every minute of it.

Go to America.

Lastly , I have to ask this, any plans to record any new material together?

We have a live album due out pretty soon, recorded by Dave Draper at our Bristol show earlier in the year. It sounds HUGE and a few labels are after it. I cannot wait for that, the 3rd official Kerbdog album. One show last year was intended to be a live unplugged album with a new track. But, we got an hour to practice which was spent looking at how broken Colin’s amp was. We decided to kick that can down the road! Gggarth and Simon from Biffy Clyro want to re-record On The Turn, so we might do that and add something. We would all love to do more, we feel there is unfinished business there but we are rarely in one country at the same time, never mind town. We’ll see…

Many thanks to Darragh for taking the time to talk to me.The albums “Kerbdog” and “On The Turn” are re-released on East World Records You can catch Kerbdog live at Cyprus Avenue, Cork Sat 10 Nov & The Acadamy, Dublin on the 8th of December

Courtesy of Niall Healy @ http://niallofcork.wordpress.com/

The first single released earlier in the year ‘White Lightning’ opens Electric Soup and sets the tone for the remainder; an upgraded Crow Black Chicken introduce their album confidently with self-assured intonation and a bluesy swagger that wouldn’t sound out of place in decades past, albeit a sound that is unique to the Irish music scene right now.

Without re-hashing what others will surely have to say about this band, Christy O’Hanlon’s vocals could grate cheese; his range and devotion to the genre are applaudable and apparent on every track of this album. No more ZZ Top references, no more Rory Gallagher references; this is simply Crow Black Chicken.

The rhythmic grooves of ‘Skin Deep‘ are the second offering on this debut from Clonmel/Cork band. Minimalistic and meticulous in arrangement, the product is a song that dares you not to move and then asks “Come on baby?”. This is one of the sexiest songs an Irish band has produced in this writer’s opinion; Steve McGrath’s bass lines command a seduction that accompanied by three solos and a beautiful Wah filled bridge makes this track a regular crowd-pleaser at live shows.

A sturdy bass line opens ‘Pourin’ Down’, soon to be accompanied by drums and electric guitar in some Zeppelin-esque musical tri-force of effects laden, laid back rock and roll. Recorded in a small cottage in the Comeragh Mountains, the guys approached this record with a mind to capture the essence of Crow Black Chicken; disregarding the usual approach their decision to record everything live at the same time has given this album a beautifully nostalgic sound with the paramount, Philip McGee adding his own expertise to mixing and producing.

My favourite from the album was apparently very nearly not included on Electric Soup at all. A beautifully poignant moment only four tracks into the album, ‘Epitaph’. Christie’s vocals are exceptionally moving and it, “you know you’ll always be alone” it shows a facet of CBC that I had not encountered to date; an affecting tracks that progresses through various sub-genres of blues rock to find itself touching upon various themes and lyrical notions.

Crunchy guitars, domineering bass lines and solid drum beats give ‘Charlie’s Women’ the essence of an amazing blues song. John Lee Wee follows the same line with Gev barrets drums supplying a force to match Christie’s vocals. What was surprising on first listen was how the most simplistic ideas and riffs can be applied by the right people and just ascend to new heights of musical power.

The title track ‘Electric Soup’ is a fantastically intricate song which immediately sounds complicated and emanates that traditional blues. I’ve said it previously, if Crow Black Chicken existed in the eighties, they would have provided the soundtracks to the coolest movies; Patrick Swayze and Co. would probably have enchanted even more women with the help of Christy, Steve and Gev. The endearing words of Christy bring a smile to everyone’s face at the end; in a Helter Skelter ‘blisters on me fingers’ style:  “Fuck it, I hope that’s it now!”

‘Bijoue Creole’ has a certain New Orleans feel for it, an almost swing rhythm and staggered guitar offsets the albums tone so far but only the six minute duration of the song; yeah, six minutes, in fact most of the tracks on this album hit the five minute mark if not longer. Slide guitar mixes up the chorus while innovative picking featuring harmonics and changing tones lets this track move around freely, it has a little something for everyone.

Recently released ‘Murmuration’ is one of the heavier tracks on the album and the video is impressive to say the least. The song is an aggressive mix of heavy rock with sludgy blues and yet another track which deals with murder; like those that came before it, it holds a tempo which indicates a standard progression until it takes off. I can imagine this thundering through a stereo with the top down and the pedal to the floor, a cruising song if ever there was one.

‘Lie Awake’ returns to a more restrained tenderness shown on Epitaph with lyrics such as, “You’re a shadow in a doorway, You’re a whisper in a wind, Gonna Lie Awake…”. The effortlessness of such a dramatic change is endearing and it only serves to prove that Crow Black Chicken can move from aggressive hard rock to charming and often touching blues that remind this reviewer of some of Knopfler’s more affecting works. And with an almost immediate end to the sincere felt emotions, a scream opens ‘The Drop’ and a tripartite attack ensues, each member commands a power on this album of which the other seems to have no control over; a battle of instruments all equally as authoritative, their masters all as skilfully adept, the result is a dexterous offering of Crow Black Chickens magnum opus.

The penultimate track, Flowers, sports one of my favourite solos from the album, laden in effects and conviction it leads nicely into ‘John The Revelator’. A song with as many years as there are cover versions and yet CBC‘s version is one of my favourite. I never particularly enjoyed the Nick Cave version and I admittedly probably The Blues Brothers version as they introduced the track to me. However, this version is indeed just as good and Christie’s intonation is nothing short of admirable. The guitar tone is solid and chunky while Gev adds a cadence that allows this track to transcend the gospel origins into a murky land of blues rock, cigarette smoke and whiskey haze.

Ending the album on such a well known track seems like a tip of the hat from Crow Black Chickens to their inspirations and it certainly concludes their debut confidently.

This album is one of the most impressive debuts this year and promises great things from a band who are already writing new material. Electric Soup is released June 1st nationwide and will be followed by a tour encompassing all towns and venues great and small.Check out their official website for gigs and free material or click here for their facebook.

Drop-d Rating: 9/10

When I first walked into the room, there was silence. One band member was reading a newspaper and gave me a nod, while another was moving around furniture. As we waited for the drummer to arrive, things remained relatively quiet and I wondered whether or not I’d be getting much information from these guys at all. Turns out my worry was quite unnecessary!

Firstly, can ye introduce yourselves and say what ye do in the band?
C: Okay, I’m Cathal McCormack and I play guitar and sing.
A: Alan. I play bass.
S: I’m Steve and I play drum.
C: Singular.
S: The singular, drum. [Laughs]

Okay, now can you explain the band name?
C: Well, the band is named JP13.
A: It’s just, our two favourite letters and our two favourite numbers.

So that’s it, there’s no logical reason..?
S: Well who doesn’t like the number one? [Laughs]
A: Yeah, or the letter ‘J’.

I thought it might have something to do with your song, ‘Jerkey P’?
C: No, but that was a brilliant coincidence actually. And Jerkey P was a, kind of pointless name also. It might come up later on in the next few years though and just resurface. Then the punch line will be there.

Do any of your song names have reasons behind them or are they all just pointless?
S: They all have reasons, there just all pointless.
C: Pointless reasons, yeah! Has a nice ring to it actually!
S: Our next song will be called that.
C: Well, some of the names are just normal names and others are really just funny statements that we came up with.
S: Sometimes we come up with the names before we even have the lyrics.

Okay, and I’m presuming that the ‘Alan’ ye refer to in your songs isn’t this Alan here? Or is it?
[Alan laughs and nods]
C: It’s mostly him, yeah.
A: Or the newt.

What’s the newt?
C: There was a newt once.
[Everyone pretty much just bursts out laughing]
S: We called him Alan.
C: We actually had the song, ‘Alan lies about newts’ before that. Then we happened to find a newt, so we called it Alan. And now sometimes it’s him that we’re talking about. He has a Facebook page about him too, but people think that it’s this Alan’s page.

Fair enough! So who writes the songs and how do they come about?
S: Cathal.
C: Well yeah, I write most of the music and most of the lyrics, but from song to song, it’s different. It’s too much work putting it together individually-like who did what with each individual song. Some of the themes of the songs come up randomly too, and then others are ghost stories about haunted houses and…
A: ..Freddy Krueger! It really just varies.
C: It varies a lot, but they’re all pretty much the same thing. Yeah, write that down! [Laughs]

So how do you all know each other, and how did ye start playing together?
C: Well they’re brothers, and then I just came along and we started a band cause’ we all liked the same kind of music. Then we started playing songs by a guy called ‘Wednesday 13’, who was the singer in Murderdolls. He did a lot of horror-punk/rock and funny horror lyrics, so we kinda sold that idea for a little while and [later] wrote songs like ‘Fourteen28’.
A: Yeah, everyone had done songs about Mike Myers and Jason Voorhees and people like that, but no one had done Freddy Krueger.
C: Yeah exactly, so we said we’d give that a go. We did that for a long time, and then we started covering other stuff. But then we thought, when you’re doing a lot of cover songs that no one knows, you might as well be an original band, so we started bringing our own songs into it. Before that, people used to ask us ‘Did you write all of those?’ assuming we had written at least most of them. And we’d be like ‘No, none of them!’ So we were kinda getting away with that for a while, but then decided we were better off just writing our own stuff.

Oh ok! And how do ye find time to practice? Or do ye practice?
C: We had a good run of weekly practises there for a while, so weekly and the very most. Sometimes if we missed a day, we’d miss a full week.
S: And then we’d missed it for holidays, like Christmas holidays..
C: Yeah, and Easter holidays, Cathal-wants-to-do-something-else holidays, there’s-a-match-on-in-the-pub holidays…that kinda thing! [Laughs]

And how would you rate your live performance ability?
A: (No hesitation) Class!
C: Oh we are, amazing.
S: Nobody compares…
C: Ah well, we’re grand like! [Everyone laughs] Well we’ve never really gotten a bad reaction.
S: We have gotten no reaction.
C: Well, yeah but that just means there was no one there in the first place!

Can you remember your first gig?
C: Yeah, we played at Blackout in the Bowling Alley [In Athlone]. We played there twice and one of them was our very first gig. I think it was in October and we had started the band in January, so we had been together for a good ten months. I suppose if we weren’t gonna be much good that day, we may as well have just stopped!

Have any of you ever had any disasters while gigging?
C: Well I’ve had lots of guitars breaking on my part, and strings and electronics going and stuff like that. I mean, you get bad sound at some gigs.
S: Yeah, people that have just thrown it together.
C: Like, really good places know that it’s important to get a sound engineer in.
S: Or like, times when the bass drum rolls away. [Laughs]
C: Oh yeah, we’ve had a lot of that when they don’t have the drums set up right. Steve has had to deal with that quite a few times.

So what are your individual music influences?
S: This could take a while! Well Nirvana was a huge influence for me. They’re the reason I started taking up drums. Then bands came along like the Foo Fighters and Alice in Chains.
A: Same! …Well, there was never really a band I stuck with y’know, or listened to non-stop and bought all their albums, apart from the likes of Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Alice in Chains. I listened to Gun ‘N’ Roses and that kinda stuff as well. I’d get into new stuff, then forget about it and go back to the old stuff again, y’know.

So if ye were going on tour and were all stuck on the same bus, what would ye be like to live with?
A: Terrible!
C: Oh! God! Awful, yeah!
S: The humour would die straight away. [Laughs]
C: Well, we’d probably have a good, day at most. Y’know, we’d all be having a laugh and be great fun! But then, we’d all just end up separate ends of the bus. I dunno how we’d sort out that third person though! Actually, we’d have one right in the middle, and just have the other two staring at each other from opposite sides of the bus!

So you wouldn’t all get on in a small space so?
S: We wouldn’t get on in a big space!
C: Well, it’s about time more than space, y’know? We’d be alright for a while in any space. Nobody wants to hang out with anyone for a long time!
A: The only way to sort it would be to tour in three different buses!

Have ye reached any milestones in your career so far?
S: Releasing the album was definitely a milestone. That was a lot of fun.
C: Yeah, it was a very low-key event.
A: Yep, just the three of us!
C: Yeah, so we had an album out, and we told the world, and the world bought it. …Ah no, it did alright for a first album from a band that, well, we don’t play that much. I mean, we’re only starting to get to places and reach people now like. It’s madness! Nobody else would release an album when people didn’t know who you were! But we just did the album anyway, and if anyone wants to hear it, it’s there y’know? People will get around to it, and find it eventually anyway!

So, what is your opinion of the music scene in Athlone, when compared to Dublin or Cork?
C: There isn’t one for us really. I mean, the crowd claims to be there. People go to gigs when they happen in Athlone, but they rarely happen cause’ the pubs don’t really want them. When you go to Dublin or Galway to gigs, the crowd is just there. They expect that there’ll be something on, so they just go anyway. Whereas here, I really don’t know what the thinking behind it is. People literally come up to you and say right to your face that there’s no music in Athlone. And then we’re just like ‘Oh right, thanks!’ [Laughs] But then, not just us, but you see it with anyone that puts on a gig- no one turns up. People just don’t really go to them around here, but they’ll complain about them not being on. They like to know it’s there though.

And what do ye do in your spare time?
C: Listen to music, think about music …read comics.
S: I read…
C: Yeah, he reads real books; there’s barely any pictures!
S: Yeah, but then when you get a picture, it’s a bonus!

Okay, so comic books, yeah? If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
C: Someone actually asked me this recently!
S: Just one?
[There was a long pause while the lads actually thought about this question!]
S: Super strength, flying, invisibility…
C: Flying would be pretty cool.
S: We could all have the same power! But then one of us might end up turning evil…

Who is most likely to turn evil?
C & S: ALAN! [Laughs]

So how can your current/potential fans contact you?
C: Well, if you’re a big fan, talk to us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/JP13rocks) and I’ll literally talk back! Nobody gets ignored! We’re on Facebook (www.facebook.com/JP13rocks) and our website is www.JP13rocks.com as well! We have an e-mail address but we’ll get a nicer one at some stage.
S: Something like ‘cha-ching’@hotmail .com [Laughs]
A: Or a couple of dollar signs or something!
C: [Still laughing] Yeah, that one might not be in use for another little while yet!

Well is there anything you’d like to add, or have I made you feel sufficiently awkward yet?
S: [Nodding] Sufficient.
C: Hmmm, anything to add…
A: Don’t do drugs!
C: Yeah! For all our young, impressionable fans: Stay in school! Well, school’s alright! It’ll do without ya though-it’ll survive.

Do you actually want me to quote that?
C: Ahhhhh, yeah why not! For the craic!
S: In bold writing!
C: Nah, I don’t have any brilliant statement to go out on. I was hoping we would actually, but most of the good ones are already taken. Y’know, ‘Live long and prosper’…’May the force be with you’…nah, nothing!

The band’s new EP, entitled ‘Noise’ will be out early this Summer, and they will be touring and gigging all over the country so keep an eye on their Facebook page for more info!

For a band to have gone on as long as Open Hand have and survive any number of personnel changes, label setbacks and various other misfortunes, points to an iron resolve and unwavering belief in what you do. Lucky for us then, that Justin Isham‘s crew has done just that, against every odd tossed at it and come out better every time, as if that were imaginable. And after the erratic but utterly enthralling series of left turns that was third album Honey, Mark of the Demon serves as a reminder that Open Hand‘s long and winding road is one more than worth accompanying them on.

Part sound art, part retrospective, part outtakes collection, Mark of the Demon is a single-track medley of various material throughout the band’s incarnations, from demos and live takes to finished items, and for all the ups and downs in sound, owing mostly to the wild variations in source material, it is a potent and powerful reminder of a creative evolution that has been a joy for this listener to witness since first excitedly picking up their breakthrough record, You and Me all that time ago.

Segued by tongue-in-cheek guttural voices intended as otherworldly narration, and opening with a dreamy passage not unlike the fuzzier moments of Honey, this exploratory territory veers wonderfully in a downbeat snippet of picky goodness before ramming right into a rather large chorus. Steady You and Me-style tapped riffing and fuzzy wailing allows a moment of contemplation before it gives way to unexpected acoustic trickery. Dreamy Honey-style harmonies lead into a spirited, chugging passage before ceding back to a lush, layered soundscape, right before ending abruptly on a jokey live note.

It’s not easy to take in all at once. It’s not intended to be. It bends, it twists and turns. It takes you between its jaws and tosses you around like a ragdoll, your vision before you blurring. It’s what Open Hand have always done. It’s what they are, challenging and always moving forward, but true to form, never without irresistible points of access. It is this quality that, in the case of Therapy? and the like before them, has cost them an easy pigeonhole to get their just recognition. But it is also what makes them such a thoroughly compelling band, and will make them something very special when all is said and done. As a piece of art, and as a measurement of how Open Hand have grown, it’s an absolute treat. Here’s to the new album this year, then.

Drop-d Rating: 8/10

On a cold, dry night in the Capital city, not too long ago, two extremely polished rock bands took to the stage of The Village to wow a faint crowd with professional and evocative displays of rock song writing. The two artists in question were Cork’s own MAKO and Brazil’s Medulla, performing as part of a cultural exchange known as the Brazil Celtic Festival.

Straight out of the blocks at 9:30 p.m. came MAKO. Though there was much cheering and rejoicing at their presence, the venue was sparsely populated. Not that it deterred the band. As always they were in astounding form stacking up track after track of rock gold. ‘Unstoppable’ and ‘Miss Alison’ are just two of the glittering tracks that were observed. They are without a doubt one of the hottest tickets in the country at the moment.

The movements of enigmatic front man Declan O’ Shea are a sight to behold, showing that he hasn’t lost any of his stage presence since the Cyclefly days. The same can be said for the other Cyclefly members present onstage Christian LaMontagne and Delcan’s brother, and renowned producer, Ciarán, both of whom exude experience and cool. And for those of us who have a knowledge of the band’s back catalogue of old were in for a surprise as we were treated to a rendition of ‘Violet High’, a track lifted from Cyclefly’s debut LP, ‘Generation Sap’. It was a special moment…

But that’s not to diminish the value of the headliners. Medulla were brought from the New World to give a taste of what modern Brazilian rock has to offer. And that seems to be a lot.

A divine mix of pure mainstream rock, pop, rap, funk and hip-hop, Medulla are unlike any band this country has ever witnessed. Their energy, their style, their

presence and their songs are just brimming with unadulterated talent. Fronted by two hyperactive Brazilian gentlemen, the pair hopped and screamed around the stage backed by a tight-knit line-up of guitars, bass and drums.

It’s a deep shame that there weren’t more people at this show, and a conversation I had with a member of MAKO hinted at the reasons why.

About a month ago, Brazil hosted the Brazil Celtic Festival that celebrated the connections between Irish and Brazilian artists. On the Irish side were BipolarEmpire and MAKO. All the artists received a great deal of publicity throughout the festival with radio and TV appearances, as well as performances to huge audiences.

Yet despite how well these artists were received in Brazil, it seemed to be impossible to garner any media attention for the Irish leg of the festival. And it doesn’t seem to have been for want of trying, with the Irish artists contacting various media outlets, most of which had previously been sympathetic to the bands; their contact fell on deaf ears.

It seems that as soon as you mention cultural exchanges to Irish media you seem to be met with a certain degree of cynicism, and as a result, nights like that in The Village get overlooked and the bands suffer.

But you can take solace! The truth of the matter is that, despite the poor turnout on the night, both MAKO and Medulla possess such overwhelming talents that there is no doubt as to their futures. They’re some of the worlds finest.

Check out MAKO at their site here and Medulla at theirs here. Also, stay tuned for an interview with MAKO’s front man Declan O’ Shea.

Tuesday night saw two of Waterford’s best up and coming bands take to the stage on a quiet evening in Cork’s Cyprus Avenue. Kodakid, with Ghetto Ameretto in tow, blasted the patrons of the venue into submission with a set each of hard electronic rock and some straight up funk-rock.

Ghetto Amaretto got proceedings underway and their sound in something to behold. Having lost their drummer within the last year, the band have reinvented themselves as a driving, electronic based three-piece. Like many bands of the moment, they’ve opted to replace the missing member with a machine, and they seem much better for it. Declaring Nine Inch Nails as their chief influence, this is the only way the band could’ve gone and the power behind their new sound is shattering.

It’s still a little rough around the edges… With a tad more vocal projection and tightening up of their backing sounds and they could be world-beating. But there is some serious potential here. Ghetto Amaretto are definitely a band to watch.

Headliners on the night were Kodakid. Hailing from Waterford, the band bring with them a mix of soul, funk and rock, a combination that is all too familiar to this part of the world. Fresh off an apprearance on Monday night’s controversial episode of TV3’s The Apprentice the band played themselves out in front of an all too slight crowd.

They ply their funky trade with some serious proficiency. Singer Kev Power’s style is similar to that of Jim Morrison, while Kev himself looks like a modern version of James Dean. They have a tight rhythm section, brought out by bassist Johnny “Shoebomb” Duignan, drummer Tony Brown, and their combined experience. Meanwhile guitarist Alex Soikans lays some nice melodic guitar lines on top.

For me, while they are very very good at what they do, they’re not this reviewer’s kind of thing. I can see how some people might love them. In fact I can see how a lot of people might love them. But unfortunately, I cannot count myself among them. For fans of hard, funky rock, check out Kodakid. You won’t be disappointed.

Check out Ghetto Amaretto on their FB here, and Kodakid on theirs here.

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Cork’s rock pioneers ECHOGRAM have today announced the release date for their new single ‘Conspiracy‘.

The track will be released on Monday October 10th, a few days before the band take off to tour the west coast of the US. The track will be accompanied by a music video by up and coming Cork director Shaun O’ Connor and, having seen the track played live, it’s bound to be a success for the band.

You can preview the track on the band’s Breaking Tunes here. Stay tuned for an in depth review of ‘Conspiracy‘ and a post about the video.

Local boys Dead School have been taking the nation by storm over the last number of months. Supports to Whipping Boy, a slot at the Indiependence festival and a well received single tour, they’ve definitely been a busy bunch of lads. Well, their efforts seem to have paid off and the band have just been signed to Cork-based label, FIFA Records.

The label was the jumping off point for Fight Like Apes and the Frank and Walters, so will Dead School be able to follow in their footsteps? Label founder, Frank and Walters Drummer and local DJ, Ashley Keating had this to say about the bands signing.

“We’re thrilled to be involved with a dedicated and hard working band like Dead School. They’ve really impressed us with their drive over the last year and we’ve hoping we can open things up for them through FIFA.

“We’ve built up a lot of good contacts within the industry over the years, and if Dead School can continue to produce the goods like they have been in the short time they’ve been together, we can look forward to a healthy partnership in the months and years to come.”

Murmurs in Cork’s musical underground have been questioning Dead School’s musical integrity and playing skills, but you have to say, any local act that begins to rise above the murky waters of Ireland’s unsigned band scene must have something special about them. Whether the band can stand up against the hype is another matter entirely…

Check out Dead School on their Facebook page here and see them live in the Crane Lane Theatre next Sunday, October 2nd.

As the tour for their critically acclaimed fourth album, ‘Leaving My Empire’,  begins to wind down, Cork favourites FRED brought their semi-acoustic show to the idyllic setting of Baltimore’s Glebe Gardens last Saturday night, August 13th. Support came from Dublin native Rhob Cunningham, and as the crowds made their way down the slopes to Glebe’s natural amphitheatre, Rhob soothed the masses with his Dylan/Bright Eyes tinged acoustic folk. Rhob’s personal demeanour and sweet songs helped settle in the audience nicely amidst the trees and threatening rain.

With dusk rapidly approaching, FRED themselves took to the stage. They slinked carefully into their set with Leaving My Empire centrepiece As You See. Bass in hand, singer Joe O’ Leary serenaded the crowd with his trademark mix of humour, grace and giddy dancing. Their set hung somewhere between a folk session and the band’s full-on pop sound making them sound a bit on edge but FRED’s ever present charm papered over the set’s uncertainty.

Similarly, the weather hung somewhere between a pleasant summer’s evening and a dreary autumn one, before eventually giving way to the latter. As this reviewer (having not brought a raincoat) made his way to the tree line to avoid the showers, more light-hearted revellers stuck it out to enjoy the show, despite Mother Nature’s wishes. Gig organisers were on hand to kit out the stage with umbrellas, and FRED soldiered valiantly on.

All of FRED’s recent hits were on show in the Glebe’s intimate setting. Songs that you could almost call classics like Skyscrapers and Good One stood up next to the new favourites of Somewhere Else and Trial By Fire. The intimacy of the gig, fear of rain and the bar the didn’t stop the crowd enjoying the set and while a die-hard group of ladies bopped along to Fears and Remedies one particular girl had a minor altercation with a lighting rig making the show that little bit darker. But FRED, always the showmen, merely shrugged it off, finishing their set with the combination of the hit Running and a kumbaya-esque version of Prince’s I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man.

It was definitely one of those special evenings and the band themselves knew it. As they approached the end of their set, front man Joe attempted to make the inevitable plug of the band’s most recent CD. But as he laughed, he admitted that it was “not that type of gig”. No, it definitely was not.

Very often, it’s hard for this reviewer to stop himself from searching for the ‘point’ of an album, for the place of a band in the musical sphere, where they’re going, what they want and where they came from. So sometimes, this reviewer will not listen for a genuinely nice piece of music, but instead search for its relevance.

Well, in this case, Nick Lowe’s album, ‘The Old Magic’, is one occasion where it’s pointless to look for what this album is trying to say, and where Mr. Lowe is trying to get himself. Nick, as he sings on Checkout Time, is sixty-one years old, he’s a New Yorker who has been writing music for forty years, and has been constantly releasing material all that time.

To me, this is just a very nice album, free from the world conquering ambition that tends to plague a lot of newer bands. Its folk/rock tinged and its lazy tightness reminds the listener of the experience and skill of Lowe and his backing band. It’s a perfect record for a Sunday morning.

There’s not much more to say about Nick Lowe’s, The Old Magic and to not tar the record with the same brush I used on Blanck Mass a couple of weeks ago, I’d implore you to check it out yourself. Definitely one this reviewer would recommend. Just don’t try and think too hard about it.

Drop-D Rating : 6/10