Review by Robert O’Connor
SDCP001 is the very first release from a small, independent music distribution label called Stress Debt & Chest Pains who’ve come out of Galway to bring the noise. Without engraving anything in stone, the guys at SD&CP have a desire to find good music and release it to the people whenever possible (and whenever they feel like it). Their first release features the excellent instrumental juggernaut C!ties and Kerry / Galway deck masters Deviant and Naïve Ted. If you’re going to release an E.P., you could do a lot worse than these guys.
Side A features a re-recording / remix of C!ties excellent piece, Satellites. The band has reworked the song giving it a smoother finish and a stronger / more dominant feel. With heavy instrumental bands in Ireland seriously upping their game this year, it’s good to see C!ties are taking notes and rising to the challenge. The Re-recording would be interesting to hear on its own, but they’ve gone with the remix option for this release and surprisingly enough it works perfectly. It loses none of the songs swooping, bellowing feel and adds a highly ear pleasing house/garage backline when the boys bring it.
Deviant & Naïve Ted change the pace dramatically on side B with a ‘Deliverance’ styled blues / Irish fiddle mix. Opening with a comfortable Kris Kristofferson sample, No More Heroes is heavily layered with samples and mixes but remains oddly sparse and tranquil. Mostly built around a sliding blues guitar and shaky beats, the song cleverly gives the same relaxed listing enjoyment that any one of the samples would on their own, but evolves with various add ins like violin melodies, changing vocal dubs and what sounds like a last minute appearance but a sitar (damn you George Harrison). Interesting, different and highly recommended.
A good start from a new distributer (they’re very adamant that they’re not a record label) and a welcome sign of things to come.