The Koubas are a four member band based in Dublin and formed in 2009, by front-man Stevie J Ryan and Jakob Was. Having played Whelans and Crawdaddy (among others) in the past month, they are looking to make a proper dent in the prosperous Irish music scene, with the release of their ‘Things I Don’t Like To Talk About’ album.
The first thing that strikes you about the album upon listening to it, is the amount of energy exuding from the tracks, along with their instant catchiness. It’s easy to see how these would transfer into a great live performance and ensure wide appeal. Obvious potential hits include ‘Get over yourself’, ‘Karma’ and ‘Need to trust’, with the aforementioned track practically made for radio.
Ryan’s vocals show an ability to move through several ranges and are perfect for their sound, while the slightly slower parts of songs are infused with exuberant melodies which flow effortlessly into the higher tempo, even better sounding riffs. The only slow track on the album is the last one; ‘Weaker’, a sudden change in tempo and ironically enough, not exactly the strongest finish the album could have had.
However If you want an album that’s full of singalong tracks, you could do a lot worse than ‘Things I don’t like to talk about’. These guys will be playing around Dublin quite a bit over the next while and I’d highly recommend you make the effort to see them.