Further central to the town’s venue recovery is the Triskel Arts Centre, a truly wonderful institution that has opened its doors to a wonderful mixture of Irish and touring outfits across genre lines.

July 17th sees the facility play host to ex-garage-rock heroes The Urges on their continuing creative journey, accompanied in their latest steps by punk-poets Nagasaki Suntans and chaotic “genderless” collective The Vincent(s) (a child of Daphne in the Attic).

€5 at the door, Saturday July 17th.

Now moved to TDC downstairs in the Triskel. 3 more great bands of great music. More visuals & maybe a bit more all for €5.

The Urges: five men, their names are not important now, but what is, is the sound that those five men create.

Starting out in Dublin as a raw & primitive garage band it didn’t take long for their racket to catch the locals attention. After releasing their first single “(Around &) Around” in 2007 the ears of international promoters began listening. They have since toured extensively throughout Europe, the U.S. & beyond. It was on one of these excursions to New York City ( to play with the legendary Sonics) where they caught the attention of Steve Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records. The label released their excellent debut album “Psych Ward” in 2008. This was an impassioned bolt of garage and psych that remains close to the heart of many (one review proclaimed it to be the garage album of the decade) … but that was then and this is now & it is the now of which I must discuss.

The Urges have progressed & learnt from the basics of garage music and in the process absorbed new influences to expand their sound. They have moved out of the garage, thanked those who have opened their ears from The Seeds to The Chocolate Watch Band, and set out on their new journey. Like every great band The Urges know that the need for progression and developing their sound is vital for any group to remain relevant & keep the heart of their sound beating. The Urges have done this by incorporating Rock n Roll, Soul, West Coast Psych, deep searching lyrics and superb playing by all five. The use of brass & string arrangements can be heard in their new sound, elevating it above and beyond their peers.

In parallel with their musical progression their live shows have also evolved. Witnessing The Urges live is something that goes beyond the sounds creeping out of amplifiers. Using light, film and colour, bathed in swirling visuals, they, as men, become part of the music, a visual and aural assault on the senses.

Listen to the lead track (“Fire Burning”) from their forthcoming album, and hear the soul and beat sound that is played with passion and skill. Delve into the west coast psych sounds of “Sick Of The Scene” and “Strangers In A Stranger Land” and you will hear where they are going. Listen once, twice and further still, you will detect more subtle influences that creep into their music, building blocks of a new sound. A new sound that is wholly The Urges own. Film scores, folk rock, Scott Walker, Gene Clark, David Axelrod, I could list what I hear so wonderfully used to create something new but now it is up to you to listen, to be taken over.

As those five men sing “I’ve Been Here Before” you may ask yourself….. have I? … but in so many ways you haven’t! So let their sounds fill your head, for it is the music they create that counts.

From the bloodied resting place of our mother Daphne (suspected murder), came our father (Vincent), who in keeping with the tradition of the most famous girl band in the world, The Shaggs, locked us in a basement and beat us until we wrote some songs. Our songs portray our bleak outlook on life following the harrowing experiences of our adolescence at the hand of our (alleged) father. This is our story.

(The) Vincent(s) posit(s) a body-grammar of othered/othering somatic(s) and the creation/exploration of a new sex-tourism. Much as Walter Benjamin’s age of mechanical reproduction has been superseded by one of digital ubiquity we must reassess our sex and shrug our desires for mechanically reproductive intercourse in favour of an all-encompasing and ubiquitous gendersex (dis)embodiment.

Nagasaki Suntans consist of Kevin Hennessy on vocals and Keith Murray on bass, and play what could be described as punk poetry. Nagasaki Suntan’s rhythm and rhymes deal with awkward subject matters which many people would choose to ignore,but each gig feels like a cleansing of the soul which leads to a healthy mind. Check out Nagasaki Suntans on bandcamp and myspace.

Alliance Promotions Present: The Urges, The Vincent(s) & Nagasaki Suntans.