The opening track of our second annual Cork Rock City mixtape has been revealed. Last year, we paid worship and tribute to the centrepiece of Cork music for nearing the past decade, Hope is Noise. This year, we showcase one of the feral new wave of bands coming up in the ranks, a band that has put in road miles and by the time the comp rolls around, will have completed its debut headlining UK tour.

This year’s opening track will be My Friend Has No Job, by Former Monarchs.

The FoMos have been blazing a trail up and down Cork music and Irish music in general, their scintillating post-hardcore steeped in deep respect for Brit types like Reuben and Oceansize, but reflective of their own experiences and even of the town that spawned them.

My Friend Has No Job is a scorching, rocking yet utterly indignant look at the current economic situation, and the effect it has had on our generation, millions of miles financially from the comfort of the besuited chimpanzees whose reckless gambling put us in this mess, but also the generational separation, and the rage and ennui that this situation has created and will doubtless remain as budget cuts get more and more in line with whatever policy the current coalition gets bullied into and more and more detached from the realities.

It is the strength of this tune, the indignance, the energy, the songcraft, the hooks, the harmonies, the obfuscating math-guitars and the crushing chords, the thoughtful xylophones and incisive lyrical prowess, cutting right to the core of a generation’s loss, that makes us proud to announce it as our album opener.

Don’t take our word for it, stream it below! And don’t forget, submission deadline for music (.wav/.flac only), album artwork, video(.mp4 only), and writing is October 17th! Mail it to zenarcadian@gmail.com!

My Friend has no job | Former Monarchs.