And what better way to end Irish Week than to take another look at some of the new and rising stars of the Irish music scene? We start off with a bunch of rockers who hail from Dublin.
Spies
One of the youngest bands on the circuit at the moment, along with Little Xs For Eyes, whom we featured last time out, Spies are making a big noise and look certain to break really soon. Their frontman, Michael Broderick, believe it or not, just finished secondary school (that's high school, to you Americans out there) and went straight into gigging with his band. Now that's a sense of purpose, right from the off!
Neon Wolf
Don't you just love the name? Natives of Kilkenny, Neon Wolf are a five-piece who specialise in fast, hard, rock and are still working on most of their material, but here's what I could find.
Carried by waves
I have already stated previously that electronic music is generally not my thing, but that's no reason not to feature a new, exciting band from that genre here. Carried by waves come from “the sunny southeast”, as we say here, ie Cork. Having already played at the Hard Working Class Heroes festival last year, their debut album is in the making and due out in a few months.
Overhead, the albatross
Well, I wonder where
that band name came from? Obviously heavily influenced by Pink Floyd, this band also come from the Capital, and are a sixpiece who apparently infuse their rock with a good dose of classical music too. Can't be bad!
Patrick Kelleher and his cold dead heads
Just
had to include this guy, if only for the inspired name! Irish art rock? You'd better believe it! Our Patrick has been plying his trade since 2009, and gaining plaudit after plaudit wherever he goes. Shortlisted for the Meteor Choice Music award this year, surely it can't be long before his cold dead hands are closing around one of those, and before he really breaks into the big leagues?
The Minutes
LOUD is certainly a word that describes this Dublin band, but having taken five years --- yeah, five years! --- to create their debut album, there's nothing punk or hurried or unprofessional about their sound. They also tend to throw dancebeat rhythms into their rock, which may help mark them out from the pack.
So that's our second selection of new and lesser-known Irish bands, some if not all due to make the big leap sooner than later. With bands and artistes like these coming up through the ranks, I think it's fair to say the future of Irish music is in good hands.
Happy Paddy's Day to you all, hope you enjoyed the choice of Irish music over the last week.
Slan go foill!