Underwater Picnic 'Losing Fast' review

Underwater Picnic are a 5 piece band from Galway, Ireland, featuring Ben Rogan, Brian FitzGibbon, Declan Ridley, Eoghan Hynes, and Pierce Cunnane. While still being relatively new, having formed in February 2009, they are a breath of fresh air, and exactly what the music scene needs.


Writing their own original songs and covering others, the band have gone from strength to strength, playing many gigs in the locality, and also appearing on national television on Pop4. I had the pleasure of catching them in Galway recently, and they have all the energy added to their songs, and the charisma that every band needs (but not every band has!)


Their latest single Losing Fast, released in August, has all the things a song could need, and could easily be played on national radio too. With a lot of Two Door Cinema Club and Bloc Party influences, as well as Paramore with their own edge to it, I know they are going to be huge.

Check them out here!

Milk, the band, interview

With their blend of bluesy-rock, Milk are fast making a name for themselves in the Irish music scene. Based in Dublin, the pop-rock band also thrive on blues and soul, which brings their own unique style to a scene that is so filled with much of the same music.

Each track on their debut EP holds it’s own character, but stays with the same Milk sound. ‘Try’, the title track is a humble song and brings listeners into the smooth vocals and strong hooks in the bass line, and which is the stand out track for me, personally. Leads into ‘Weak In The Knees’, which has an easy tone like any song should have, together with a memorable chorus. Next up is ‘Why Do You Ask’ and this is the perfect soul song, as it is gentle in all the right places. Last, ‘Up The Hill’ which brings a much different edge to the band, perhaps even a heavier style, with more guitar and bass lines.

I caught up with Conall to talk about the band…

First of all, who are in the band?
There’s Garrett on rhythm guitar, Fogo on drums, me (Conall) on bass and vocals, and Donal on lead guitar & vocals.

When, where and how did the band happen?
The four of us all went to the same school, yet knew of us knew each other. Me and Donal are brothers and had played in a couple of different bands separately but around two years ago we started writing songs together. We auditioned a couple of drummers until we played with Fogo and we thought his funk-style of drumming would really suit the type of music we wanted to make. Then Fogo suggested that we have a jam with Garrett on guitar and he helped to fill out our sound a lot!

How did you come up with the name?
Myself and Donal were listening to alot of Eric Clapton’s old band ‘Cream’ at the time, and the name ‘Milk’ popped up out of that, which seemed like a good idea at the time! It’s not the best name in the world, but it’s easy to remember!

Biggest influences?
A lot of people say we sound like John Mayer which is a fairly heavy influence to us on our EP, but we also listen to a lot of other stuff. Fogo is big into the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Garrett likes The Beach Boys, whereas I like Marvin Gaye. Donal’s listening to a lot of Prince at the moment too. All in all, we listen to a lot of soul, funk, blues and even a bit of hip-hop like The Roots, Nate Dogg and Warren G!

Biggest achievement so far?
We’ve had a couple of highlights, like playing Dublin Soul Festival 2010 and The Academy main stage for Phantom’s First Friday. We also got short-listed for The Most Promising Artist at the Meteors in 2010, which is definitely up there at the top!

What would you hope to achieve with the band?
I think we all might have slightly different goals, but mine would be to play to decent size crowds who really like our music. Having enough money to pay for all the expensive things (like recording and equipment) would be nice too! 

Why should people listen to you?
I think at the moment there isn’t enough variety on the Irish music scene. For example, you’ll hear a lot about ‘indie’ bands. I suppose we might be for the person who’s into the bluesier, funkier, soulful side of music, and also maybe those into pop-rock because there is a lot of that in our music too. Also if you’re into guitar solos you might like our songs!

Describe the band in one word.
Honest!

Just what we like to hear!

With a name like theirs, finding Milk on the internet these days might be a tad difficult, so check them out 

here and on Facebook here!

And make sure to catch them on one of their shows across Ireland!

Like a Ninja: band interview

‘Like a Ninja’ are an alternative/ hard rock band based in Belfast, with all the energy and spirit you could ask for. Though being together less than a year, the band are quickly making a name for themselves in the music scene as an obnoxiously loud, energetic live act.

Their debut EP entitled “Coach Frank Says…” opens with “Made To Burn” and has plenty of heavy riffs from the word go, and strong, memorable vocals. This leads into “Random Jumpy” and keeping with the same tempo that is fast and loud from these lads. It is their third song, “Save Me” where the band show a more relaxed, slower feel, which could easily be a huge hit in the future.

I caught up with Marty to talk about the band.

First of all, who all are in the band?
At the time of recording it was me, Marty Mc Canny as our lead guitarist and backing singer), Paddy Patterson with vocals, Andy Williamson, bassist, Liam Hegarty, rhythm guitarist, and Sean O’Neil on drums. Since then there have been a few changes; Sean McCay is now the drummer and I’m the full time singer!

How, where, when did the band happen?
The band formed in Belfast in August 2010 with Sean and Marty who decided it was time to make an all out attack of the Irish music scene! The idea was to create something different, and, I think, we’ve managed to do that!

How did you come up with the name?
‘Like a Ninja’ was spawned from a drunken walk home on the fine streets of Belfast. A bin was tipped over, jazz hands were shown, Like a Ninja was shouted, and the culprit disappeared from sight. In a nutshell, it happened exactly like that!

Biggest influences?
For Andy, it’d be Megadeth and Iron Maiden; Liam and Sean with Blink 182, The Offspring and Tool; and for myself Marty, it’s Alkaline Trio and Taking Back Sunday 

Biggest achievement so far?
Placing in the final 12 in the Sounds Like Summer 2011, and managing to stay together after one of the hardest years that a new band could have is definitely up there at the top!

What would you hope to achieve with the band?
Well, like any band we want to be able to do this for the rest of our time on earth, as music is most definitely our lives. We would be happy to tour until the world ends, and I don’t care if we never get rich, as long as we can do this and people enjoy it!

Why should people listen to you?
Why not is a better question! If you want to hear a band that put everything they have; heart, soul and mind, into their music then we are the band for you! This EP has only been our first recording, so stay tuned and I promise you wont be disappointed, we have so much more to offer!

And lastly, describe the band in one word.

I can’t think of just one word! But once while playing a gig, the drummer from Flash Harry was there, and the first thing he said to us was “I thought ninja’s were supposed to be sneaky, but you guys are like a f**king juggernaut.” So I would probably say like a f**king juggernaut!

Like a Ninja are focusing on promoting their debut EP by hitting up venues across Ireland. Check out  their tunes, and find them on Facebook here! 

Make sure to catch them on one of their energetic shows!

Blink 182 'Up All Night' single review

It is definitely the most highly anticipated release of 2011, and has been ever since the pop-punk threesome reunited in 2009, their last release being their self-titled album in 2003, and soon later took an indefinite hiatus. This is from a band who postponed their UK tour by a year, and cancelled their stints at the UK and Ireland festivals this summer to finish this album. But when you’re a big a band as Blink 182 are, you can afford to make fans wait, and the new single taken from their new record, “Neighbourhood”, has finally been given the light of day.
The question everyone’s asking is, is it worth the wait?

Right from the start, we see more elements involved, with much heavier riffs and drums from Travis Barker, and even hip-hop included, the direction he wanted to take with the band. Straight away, we see they have taken a different direction than original Blink. Actually, very different. This brings us into the recognisable voice of Tom Delonge, and leads into perfect harmonies with bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus. 

Once writing about things like ejaculating into a sock, the lyrics are now much more mature and serious, “these demons, they keep me up all night”. Sounding like Angels and Airwaves in parts, DeLonge’s side project, and of course it was expected that the band who are all in their mid-30‘s, would each grow as musicians in the past 8 years, and would never do an exact replica of their earlier hits such as “What’s My Age Again?” and “All The Small Things”.

So yes, yes it is worth the wait. And with this, Blink 182 are back.

Taking Back Sunday self-titled album review

Taking Back Sunday are back with a new album, and a new line-up - but it’s one that we’ve seen before. John Nolan and Shaun Cooper infamously left the band in 2003, and it is still discussed constantly in internet land, but in March 2010 rejoined to complete the original line up of debut album, Tell All Your Friends, kicking out bassist of 7 years Matthew Rubano, and guitarist Matthew Fazzi, who had onl joined a year earlier. “Sometimes it takes some time to remember where you were headed in the first place and the people you intended to go there with. There’s no hard feelings, just the future.” taken from a blog post before it was revealed they would be returning. The band insist they are now happier and stronger than ever before; the reason behind naming it ‘Taking Back Sunday‘ was they were confident this is the band that should have been there from the start up until now. For the faithful fan base, they have seen enough members of the band to last a lifetime - that’s 11, with Eddie Reyes, Adam Lazzara and Mark O’Connell the members here today.

Here’s my track-by-track review of their latest self-titled offering.

El Paso opens with a slice of angst from frontman Lazzarra and backing screams from Nolan - any tension there was between them is obviously gone. This song is energetic throughout, and definitely the heaviest, most aggressive rock song the band have done, while impressing a live audience.

This leads into the first single, Faith (When I Let You Down), and we hear a 30 Seconds To Mars-esque choir. Lazzara sings “but when I let you down, look past your doubt. Just, please, please, don’t lose your faith in me.” which could be an apology for TBS fans about the new directions and members the band has taken.

In keeping with their early roots, the next song Best Places To Be A Mom, could easily fit onto Tell All Your Friends, with their style of punk, and was certainly missing from their 2009 record New Again, which was mostly overlooked by critics and hardcore fans alike. 

Sad Savior opens with slow acoustics and the refined vocals from Lazzara which leads into a wonderfully strong chorus. Next up is Who Are You Anyway? which again is fast and heavy, and a solid bassline, gradually leading into the chorus.

We see the only slightly dance number in Money (Let It Go), with lots of synth effects that are reminiscent of a recent My Chemical Romance track.

The emotions in This Is All Now can be seen straightaway and some of the images are vivid (“Can you imagine Christ hitting a child” anyone?). It slows down the pace of the album, but leads into a compelling chorus. The song leaves shivers, whether it’s the dual vocals of Adam and John, or the lyrics themselves. One of my personal favourites from the album, and a great choice for a single.

It Doesn’t Feel A Thing Like Falling begins well with many layers of the chorus, guitars and background shouts. Though it begins as if it should be an acoustic piece, Since You’re Gone keeps with the strong, fast-pace of the album, with heavy riffs from Reyes and Nolan, layered by Adam’s mature vocals.

You Got Me is, to put it simply, pop-punk at it’s best. It has everything you could want; catchy and at times heavier riffs, with a range of vocals changing from the bridge to the chorus, and background ‘woah-ohs’. Definitely one of the best, and would make a perfect single. Wonderfully leads into Call Me In The Morning, which has strong lyrics, and the acoustic guitar emphasises the tenderness of the song. Lazzara and Nolan complete a perfect harmony in the chorus, and leaves a stunning atmosphere for the album closing number.

For the fans from the start, there was much hope for a Tell All Your Friends: part 2 with this album, and while there are many parts that can be compared, it is still also extremely different, and with a noticeably grown up, fuller sound and much stronger vocals. And whether it’s from a new direction, or the fact Cooper and Nolan are back to complete the band, I don’t know, but whatever it is, I hope this Taking Back Sunday stay the same, and who knows, put out an even better record in the future. It is powerful, and simply an incredible 11 track album, with the stand out track hard to choose as it is that constant. If only more albums were like this.

A must buy, and hopefully can attract more new fans.

Out now on Warner Records

Slane review: Kings of Leon. 28th May 2011

80,000 people made the trek to the historic Slane Castle in Co. Meath for the 30th anniversary of the very first concert to take place here, to witness the biggest gig of the year so far.

The excitement was building from all around us from everyone going to Slane, but on a bus full of students, none of us knew where we going… So we just do the logical thing and follow everyone else on the longest walk ever encountered. And I mean, ever. The Whigs started the day off at around 2pm, but I ended up missing them, and I have heard nothing but great things about since then. Up next were Mona - a four piece band from Nashville, and called ‘romantic rockers’, who rose to fame after when they were on the BBC Sound of 2011 poll. Good music, but not at the right time, where the audience was solely waiting for the main event.

Then White Lies, and they gave a great performance, the audience seemed to know more of their songs this time around. Next were the newly reformed Thin Lizzy, 30 years after the band that featured Phil Lynott headlined at the first Slane in 1981. I have to admit I wouldn’t be the biggest Lizzy fan, but they were brilliant, I cannot fault them (even though I thought their set would never end). The tributes that went to Lynott were pretty spectacular, and everyone has to know at least one of their songs, and the crowd went wild for them.

Then it was time for Elbow. Again, it was a time of right music, wrong setting, as even though I thought they were good live, they failed to enthral the crowd well. The singer chugged back Guinness after Guinness, and saying ‘fuck off rain!’ while doing the middle finger salute to the sky. It seemed to work, the 80,000 people there stayed relatively dry, even though we were all expecting floods in our wellies and raincoats.

After Elbow finished, the impatient waiting for Kings Of Leon began, with the crowd going absolutely insane with pushing and shoving from every side there was. I got into the pit for this- I always need the front for a concert. Then it’s time for the main event. The crowd are a bit more focused now. Around 20 minutes later, (I expected a longer wait when front man Caleb Followill said they’d go on stage “whenever they bloody felt like it”).

They received an enthusiastic welcome, as they graced the stage at 8.40pm, and went straight for it, with Four Kicks, which was amazing. They clearly seemed to be enjoying themselves and consider this to be one of the biggest gigs of their career. It was their longest ever set, playing just over two hours. Eventually they got into the flow of things, mashing up songs and flowing ahead with them. The fact that their uncle Cleo had just passed away the night before, they played so good, you couldn’t tell, and neither this or the slight drizzle put a dampener on the day.

Fans, Charmer, Sex on Fire and Pyro were exceptional, with On Call the personal favourite of mine for the night. Any thoughts I had before about them not being good live were crushed. The chants of “ole, ole, ole” rang through the field between songs. At 10:30, they left the stage, and as the usual “one more tune” chant reached out to them, Caleb returned solo shortly later as he played The Runner solo, which he dedicated to his uncle Cleo. It was stunning. They, of course, threw in Use Somebody, the biggest crowd pleaser of the night. They then did two more songs, before ending at 10:50 with a beautiful backdrop, and fireworks filled the sky afterwards.

Definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

Setlist:Four Kicks
Taper Jean Girl
The Bucket
Spiral Staircase
Happy Alone
The Immortals
Revelry
McFearless
Fans
Back Down South
Sex on Fire
Crawl
My Party
No Money
Charmer
Notion
Cold Desert
Closer
Pyro
Mary
Molly’s Chambers
Mi Amigo
Radioactive
On Call
Trani


The Runner [Caleb Solo]
Manhattan
Use Somebody
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My Chemical Romance review: 16th February 2011, 02 Arena, Dublin

My Chemical Romance arrived back to Irish shores after a long wait, and brought their World Contamination tour to Dublin’s 02 arena.

Although it was far from sold-out, the excitement could easily be felt from the thousands of fans in the venue. Opening the show was LostAlone, with frontman of MCR Gerard Way declaring his support for the band countless times, and had previously toured on their 2007 tour, gave a great performance.

Up next were hardcore rockers, The Blackout, who arrived on stage to the Father Ted theme song. (Yes, really.) They played favourites like ShutTheFuckUppercut, I Don’t Care, and the brilliant Children of the Night. The eager, screaming crowd were instantly won over with their version of ‘Whip My Hair’, and they really connected with the audience, even hating on England and Scotland. Frontman Sean Smith afterwards said this show was one of his favourites. After they finished I could not believe I hadn’t listened to them before.

We were then left waiting for what seemed like forever for the main event. The screens changed to some of the artwork from Danger Days and pictures of the band, when we knew that we wouldn’t have to wait any longer. The screams and chants got louder and louder, while the stage was quickly set up behind the curtain. The tape of Dr. Death Defying, the intro to the album and the blare of Na Na Na was played shortly before half 9. It was amazing, and the crowd went wild, screaming to every word their heroes played. Give ‘Em Hell, Kid was next- and this was just as incredible.

They flowed through songs quickly, with the occasional speech from Way and hints of playing at summer festivals, and most of the songs being from their latest offering, Danger Days, the True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, such as Sing, Planetary (Go!), and a personal favourite Vampire Money. There was an obvious simple, and less theatrical set than previous tours- the band just wanting to focus on the music instead of costumes they had worn before.

They exited the stage, and soon after were hearing the chants of encore from all around. Gerard Way again walked on stage, with James Dewees the tour keyboardist, and sang Cancer solo, which was beautiful. The rest of the band joined him afterwards, fully clad in Ireland soccer jerseys, to play their very first single, Vampires Will Never Hurt You.

The one let-down however though was the short 80 minute set, with just 18 songs, compared to previous arena shows of up to 22 songs. Nevertheless, they kept up the energy throughout the show, and My Chemical Romance have gone from strength to strength in almost 10 years, and with an army of fans, I suspect they will keep getting bigger for many years to come.

Setlist:
Look Alive, Sunshine @Tape[Intro]
Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
Give ‘Em Hell, Kid
Planetary (GO!)
House Of Wolves
SING
Vampire Money
Mama
The Only Hope For Me Is You
Party Poison
Summertime
I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
Famous Last Words
DESTROYA
Welcome To The Black Parade
Teenagers
Helena
Cancer
Vampires Will Never Hurt You