Having committed the ultimate festival faux pas of neglecting to bring wellies, State stands submerged an inch deep in the sodden marsh that is O’Connell Park, Michelstown. Downwind, on the Bavaria stage are THE MINUTES: official openers of this year’s new, improved and hugely expanded festival. The band treats us to some great “festival…

If music be the food of love, then the Maccabees be the romantic’s choice and Wall Of Arms be a veritable feast. Where Colour It In left the listener to fill in the suggestive gaps between each twee little anecdote, their new record paints a glorious Technicolor picture and – not wishing to be…

Ditching her soft skeleton for some tougher stuff and reuniting with her Metric band mates; Emily Haines lends those trademark wispy vocals to a series of enraptured reveries and fucked-up fantasies.
Their latest record sees the band straying from their punky roots to a much more current shoegazing-pop style. Far from a flavour of…

For a bunch of first-timers, The Virgins sure know all the right moves to pull: Choosing a funky, soulful pop style which is already winning them many fans and foes alike. Opening track ‘She’s Expensive’ provides an immediate case in point. A perfect-pop creation with a slinky bass line, not afraid to delve into…

Titus Andronicus have been championing the resurgence of a certain division of indie rock not heard since a few young New Yorkers calling themselves The Strokes blew everybody away with their own brand of atmospheric, unpolished tunes.
The Airing Of Grievances aptly demonstrates that good ol’ fashioned meat and potatoes indie rock and with…

There are those among us who claim the ability to distinguish between a half-decent wine and a €200 bottle of the finest vintage or, in the same way, spot the difference between every indie band which happens to be led by a female vocalist. We’re not talking distasteful plonk versus Dom Perignon, merely separating…

Ashes to ashes, indie-kids to harbingers of gloom and doom; White Lies’ reincarnation from the forgotten Fear Of Flying to breakthrough act of 2009 brings with it a hard earned maturity in lyric and sound. Bass player Charles Cave’s sage words possess a poetic simplicity and speak with powerful eloquence on their favoured subject…

Her Space Holiday, also known by the equally memorable name of Marc Bianchi, have been scratching the surface of musical exposure for quite a few years now and, unnecessary monikers aside, appear to possess all of the necessary features to make a respectable breakthrough. XOXO Panda And The New Kid Revival may just be…

Oh to be proven wrong! To see the fire behind all that media smoke and realise that Ladyhawke wasn’t the disposable side product of an electro-pop friendly musical climate that you initially thought her to be. The self-titled debut from New Zealander Pip Brown comes as a welcome surprise, providing not only the catchy…