And So I Watch You From Afar in Whelan’s, Dublin on Wednesday 15 May 2013.  To celebrate the launch of their third studio album “All Hail Bright Futures”, Belfast noise merchants And So I Watch You From Afar descended on Whelan’s last night for the first of two Dublin shows. With the new album taking the band in several different [...]

With a name inspired by a line in the Arcade Fire song Wake Up (“We’re just a million little gods causing rainstorms/ turning every good thing to rust”) Million Little Gods aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve, both in their name and in their sound. Their self-titled debut EP has plenty of the hallmarks of a rising [...]

At a time when the Irish music scene can appear dominated by indie and alternative rock bands, it may come as a surprise that one of the best pieces of Irish music so far this year has come from Cork rapper and producer Spekulativ Fiktion. His latest EP, “Deathly Words”, is an evocative journey into the dark underbelly of modern [...]

Matt Cardle in Whelan’s, Dublin on 24th of April 2013 The words intimate acoustic performance would not typically be associated with a winner of the X-Factor, but Matt Cardle has always tread a fine line between mainstream pop and a more restrained sensibility. And while the sold out crowd that was packed into Whelan’s may have first discovered Cardle on [...]

Michael Schenker in Vicar Street, Dublin on Monday 22nd April 2013 As somebody who has influenced a legion of heavy metal guitarists, Michael Schenker’s musical legacy is pretty secure. Having played with the likes of the Scorpions, UFO and his own Michael Schenker Group, he has a huge back catalogue of hard rock hits to bring to a live show. [...]

With a provocative band name and hard-edged sound that owes much to both grunge and punk, Manchester three-piece The Virginmarys are a hard act to ignore once you’ve come across them. Their debut album “King of Conflict” is packed full of sludgy rock riffs and incisive lyrics, but the most noticeable thing about The Virginmarys is how catchy their sound [...]

It isn’t that long since Paramore’s distinctive blend of incredibly catchy emo rock earned them legions of teenage fans (and more than a few older ones too), but still their new self-titled album has the air of a comeback record about it. ‘Paramore’ sees the band attempt to recapture their signature sound while also pushing themselves in new musical directions, [...]

Hard-working UK rockers Lower than Atlantis are no strangers to re-invention. Their latest album “Changing Tune” is just another new departure in their constantly fluctuating sound, which has oscillated from hardcore punk to heavy metal, hitting plenty of points in between. Their touring schedule is equally hectic, with the band scarcely having been off the road since they came together [...]

With the film Good Vibrations hitting Irish cinemas next week, it’d be easy to assume that the Belfast punk scene depicted in the film is a thing of the past. Fortunately along come a band like I Think I’m A Cylon to remind us that the scene is still very much alive and kicking.  The EP ‘Rear Mirror Surprise’ is [...]

When asked recently if grunge would ever make a comeback, Dave Grohl responded, “If you mean loud ass guitars, loud ass drums, and screaming ass vocals? That never went away”. Root seem like a pretty good example to hold up in support of this statement. Their EP ‘Incandescent’ is a raw, fiery record, fuelled by a punk energy while still retaining a [...]