A review of the album Grammatics by Grammatics Review Snapshot: Grammatics’ mishmash debut album can sometimes be embarrassing in its attempt to cover a lot of ground, leaving you thinking t...

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Hooray for Humans have been on the Irish scene for over two years and have just come back from playing a gig in Canada. Niamh Madden catches up with the four-piece and asks them about albums, Cork ban...

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A quick Q&A session with Dublin band New Amusement Who or what has been the biggest influence on New Amusement's sound? Well when we started Brian and I were obsessed with At the Dri...

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A review of the album 'Live in Japan'  by Rodrigo y Gabriela Review Snapshot: The live CD may come across as canned, but watching the DVD really brings back some beautiful recollectio...

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One Day International, Mackerel the Cat and Others at HWCH (Sunday)

Review Snapshot: Despite dreary drizzle, HWCH made it through the night with stunning, passionate performances by both established acts and newcomers to the scene. 

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review:
It was not an evening to leave the house. Horror movie rain beat down in all its forms - spitty rain, drizzly rain, monsoon rain, torrential rain, showery rain, Dublin-here-I-come rain. But I braved it. Left the house. Hopped on a 38. Having originally planned to see geek rockers 'We Are the Physics' at Meeting House Square, I instead opted for the warmth of The Button Factory and the sounds of Mackerel the Cat. Love of the name (which is taken from a Haruki Marukami novel) was enough to sway me towards their breed of indie ambience. They had so much potential, incorporating a multitude of fancy-schmancy instruments like the glockenspiel and the double bass, and even a guitarist using a bow instead of a plec. Potential wasn't enough though. Both singers' voices were flat, the range of notes within tracks was too narrow, the bass was far too loud (thundering through my ribcage), and most songs never progressed musically. Wrong, off-key, and disappointing.

One Day International were up next and blew me away. Their climactic performance was certainly the most polished and passionate of the entire festival. I've already put aside a couple of yo-yo's to buy their album, to be released in October. Each band member was immersed and focused, and seemed to be in the midst of what spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle describes as 'flow', a higher level of consciousness. It's been a long time since I've seen such a tight set. The music itself falls somewhere between Keane and Broken Social Scene in terms of influence, seeping with explosive build-ups and beautiful cello notes. Track of the evening had to be 'Sleeping on Trains,' delivered with vivacity by the lead singer's expressive Thom Yorke style voice. I'm still a bit dubious about the band name, but their music lifted me out of Dublin for a half hour with its beauty.

Hyper electro rocker, Sounds of System Breakdown, had a long-winded soundcheck at Eamonn Doran's, but it was worth it. Our other CLUAS reviewer didn't enjoy the performance but for me it was an electrotrip that gave me lots to smile about. Despite a few technical problems and false starts, our dude took it on the chin and jumped around, multitasking between laptop, guitar and singing. The audience loved it too and there was even a bit of mild dancing (the first I've seen at HWCH). At around the second song I developed a penchant for SOSB's main man who had plenty of stage charisma, especially when he sang a track that included the line 'Can I please take you home? It's dangerous out there for a girl on her own.' Yes, it's never professional to be attracted to a musician but it certainly makes the performance even more enjoyable. And SOSB's dirty bassy electro rock charmed me too, reminding me of Hot Chip, Metronomy and The Rapture.

My final trek to Autamata was well worth it, if only for the track 'I Spy' (which bizarrely features on my Top 25 Most Played in iTunes). The music was a savage pop-feast and the performance had a high energy that unfortunately the audience didn't catch wind of.

I'm so glad the temptations of a warm lit fire and hot whiskey at home didn't take hold, because the final night at HWCH was definitely the best.

Niamh Madden

In addition to Steven O'Rourke's Festival Diary for Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 of HWCH 2008, check out the following CLUAS reviews of bands who played the festival:

• Autamata, Sounds Of System Breakdown and Robotnik live at HWCH (Day 3)
• Foxface, Bats and others at HWCH (Saturday)
• Frightened Rabbit, The Vinny Club and Bats at HWCH (night 2)
• Crayonsmith, The Parks and A Lazarus Soul at HWCH
• Chequerboard, Alphamono and Fiach live at HWCH
• Nakatomi Plaza, Half Cousin and Lines Drawing Circles live at HWCH
• Super Extra Bonus Party, Groom and The Dublin Duck Dispensery live at HWCH

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Foxface, Bats and Others at HWCH (Saturday)

Review Snapshot: Saturday nights in Temple Bar? Difficult to navigate for small-shouldered girls. Last night’s tough weave through the drunken masses proved a task in getting to gigs on time, but the quality of the acts more than made up for logistical difficulties.

The Cluas Verdict? 6.5 out of 10

Full Review:
There’s nothing more enjoyable than watching grown men scream their heads off. That’s just one of the reasons why Bats were one of the most entertaining acts so far at HWCH. Meeting House Square wasn’t as packed as it ought to have been, but faithful Bats fans headbanging at the front more than made up for a relatively empty gig. Lead singer Rupert looks cuddly but sings like an angry grizzly, with every outburst last night echoed with epileptic lighting. Savage screeching, heavy distortion, post-rock guitar riffs and uber energy: Bats have all the elements of a modern, albeit unique, rock band. How could you not like a band who finish the night with a track called ‘Bats Spelled Backwards is Stab’?

Elbowing our way to Andrew’s Lane Theatre, we arrived late and only caught about four tracks by Glasgow folksters Foxface.  Foxface masked individuals were scattered around the venue, as well as a couple of band members donning fox masks. Being an unabashed fan of cutesy novelty, that was enough to impress me for starters. The band’s tinkering blend of Celtic melodies with twee anti-folk lyrics really impressed the audience, a very responsive one at that. Reminiscent of Decemberists, Foxface manage to combine old folk tunes with a new sound and sweet likeable vocals.

After the final lilt of Foxface, there was no point in trying to make The Academy or MHS, judging by the amount of time it took us to scurry through the crowds earlier. We prepared ourselves for a bit of a dance when Crayonsmith took to the stage. It never happened though. Having listened to the band on MySpace for a few weeks, and having heard the hype, I expected excess energy, jumping around and fiery charisma. The music was solid, but the performance was lacklustre. Some of the tracks were a little repetitive and the lead vocalist’s voice just sounded monotone. The audience loved it though and the band got a huge response.

Frightened Rabbit wrapped up the gigs at ALT – an enjoyable enough set, but the band sounded far too much like a Biffy Clyro/Death Cab for Cutie lovechild. Being a fan of both bands, you’d imagine I’d be fully supportive of such a love child, but it didn’t do any more than mildly entertain me. If the festival had been more packed this evening, there might have been more of an atmosphere – which was lacking at times. However the bands were of very high quality this evening, and it was even difficult to choose who to see because of bands clashing with each other. 

Niamh Madden

In addition to Steven O'Rourke's Festival Diary for Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 of HWCH 2008, check the following CLUAS reviews of bands who played:

• One Day International, Mackerel the Cat and Others at HWCH (Sunday)So Cow, New Amusement and more at HWCH (night 3) Autamata, Sounds Of System Breakdown and Robotnik live at HWCH Day 3 Frightened Rabbit, The Vinny Club and Bats at HWCH (night 2) Crayonsmith, The Parks and A Lazarus Soul at HWCH Chequerboard, Alphamono and Fiach live at HWCH Nakatomi Plaza, Half Cousin and Lines Drawing Circles live at HWCH Super Extra Bonus Party, Groom and The Dublin Duck Dispensery live at HWCH
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Chequerboard, Alphamono and Fiach live at HWCH

Review Snapshot: The Becks Vier flowed, hairy check-shirted types floated around the side-streets of Temple Bar and the type of music was as varied as a pick'n'mix bag. Though an enjoyable evening, there was something a little disjointed about HWCH 2008.

The Cluas Verdict? 6 out of 10

Full Review:
This year's Hard Working Class Heroes was my first. With no previous experiences to compare it to (the disenchanted "last-year's-Picnic-was-so-much-better" syndrome), my untainted, innocent eyes were ready to be initiated into the world of the Irish up-and-coming. The first act on my list was Alphamono, who played in the cosy wooden attic of 4 Dame Lane. Alphamono's biog reveals that he hails 'from a small mining village on Neptune' and is currently embarking on an intergalactic journey through the universe. If a biog could ever perfectly encapsulate a sound, Alphamono's would be it. 'Laynod' began with a brief piano intro giving way to full wavy kaleidoscopic sounds, industrial space tones and vocoder vocals. Shadowy silhouettes on the curtains behind the stage looked almost alien-like, shrouded by the green lights that bathed the stage. The most well-developed and polished track was 'Arise,' something that sounded like an alternative soundtrack to Twin Peaks.
 
After the unique Alphamono set, I was left puzzled at the choice to put 26-year-old singer-songwriter Fiach onstage next. The one-man-and-his-guitar genre has been so saturated over the years that I found it difficult to give Fiach a chance. Trying to open my mind a little, I listened, but felt nothing – regardless of how passionately he played and the energy he put into singing, it just didn't stir me. It's clear that Fiach's voice has taken on the tones of Paddy Casey, perhaps without him realizing it. The Damien Dempsey brigade is exhausted. Instead of being upset and singing about said depression, I'd recommend a trip to the south of France for any aspiring singer-songwriter.

The highlight of the evening was certainly one man with a guitar, but what he did with it was astounding. Visual artist and guitarist Chequerboard shone under a single light at the corner of an empty stage in Andrew's Lane Theatre. An odd location for such a gig (Dame Lane may have better echoed the atmosphere of the tracks), the audience clearly understood that standing and nodding heads wasn't the way to go. Everyone sat down on the floor at ALT and listened. Though the bar remained noisy, the intricate harmonics, complex loops and almost effortless playing hushed most of us up.

Bringing the tempo back up again at Meeting House Square was Super Extra Bonus Party, superlative by name and by nature. It's great to see bands performing with high energy, sweating it out, throwing themselves down on the floor to really entertain. Super Extra and Fighting With Wire gave the audience loads to work with, but sadly the sound in the square was not up to scratch. Despite a thin crowd, the festival atmosphere was the best in the square– weeing in a dark portaloo, the smell of dodgy kebab-in-a-baguette combos, and tap after tap of Becks Vier. Friday night's line-up was a promising, if disconnected, beginning to the weekend.

Niamh Madden

In addition to Steven O'Rourke's Festival Diary for Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 of HWCH 2008, check out the following CLUAS reviews of bands who played the festival:

• One Day International, Mackerel the Cat and Others at HWCH (Sunday)So Cow, New Amusement and more at HWCH (night 3) Autamata, Sounds Of System Breakdown and Robotnik live at HWCH Day 3 Foxface, Bats and others at HWCH (Saturday) Frightened Rabbit, The Vinny Club and Bats at HWCH (night 2) Crayonsmith, The Parks and A Lazarus Soul at HWCH Nakatomi Plaza, Half Cousin and Lines Drawing Circles live at HWCH Super Extra Bonus Party, Groom and The Dublin Duck Dispensery live at HWCH
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Metronomy (live in Andrew's Lane Theatre, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: As it turns out, Sunday evening in town was dead. Due to a ghostly combination of rain, bleak wintery weather and possibly it just being Sunday, Metronomy attracted a small crowd. The result was disappointing.

The Cluas Verdict? 5 out of 10

Full Review:
Sunday evening in town was spookily quiet. When we arrived at Andrew's Lane Theatre punctually at 11pm, the lights were on and nobody was home. There were a couple of organisers standing around and when I mentioned I was on the guest-list they didn't even need to consult a list: 'Sure, yep, grand... but come back later, sound check is on now.'

Eek.

Funny vibes from the beginning. When we finally arrived back after 12pm, David Kitt's new project 'Spilly Walker' was bopping about onstage, playing to an almost empty venue. There were about twenty people sitting around. The act was somewhat akin to the new singer-songwriter type: basically an acoustic-based musician who has just discovered their laptop. This fad must end soon (I hope). There's something almost archaic about it: it feels that even though they're trying to go forward with technology it holds back real talent. I mean, how much can you clap for a one-man show with a machine? There might be someone out there who sees Spilly Walker as the next step for singer-songwriters, but to me it came across as stilted and dull.

In fact, the most exciting part of that support slot was the group who were throwing around those multicoloured bouncing balls you used to get in 20p machines outside sweet shops.

When Metronomy came on, the crowd swelled a little and in fairness they really danced like maniacs, despite there being so few people there. I just expected Joseph Mount to be onstage (the solo laptop affair again) but he was joined by musicians Gabriel Stebbing and Oscar Cash. The three of them performed Kraftwerk style dancing with their keyboards, and really got involved for 'Radio Ladio'. For me, it seemed more Kraftwank than Kraftwerk - it felt too much like a re-hash of something that's been done so many times before.

If you have ever been in a Euro shop frantically purchasing cheapo products for festivals, you may have spotted round lights that look like Mentos mints. Metronomy hung these around their necks against black tee-shirts and flicked them on and off at various points during the tracks. The act was a bit too gimmicky for me - it may have been effective in a larger venue but because the venue was so small, the lighting didn't really cut it. However it was a bit of fun and the lit-up guitars were pretty funky too. Again if there had been a larger crowd or a larger venue the effect would have looked a lot more exciting onstage.

Metronomy played a couple of their new tracks including 'Holiday', and the effects were quirky and upbeat. They also turned out some of the delightful circus-style music from 'Pip Paine.' The final track 'You Could Easily Have Me' was definitely the most energetic and bringing the electric guitars into the whole thing woke everyone up.

As Metronomy is one of my favourite artists, I was shocked at the small turn-out and equally astonished that the gig was a disappointment. The small crowd really gave it all they could though and Joseph Mount ended the gig by calling it 'a perfect ending to a perfect day.'

Awww. You can't get a sweeter ending than that.

Niamh Madden

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Dan Deacon and Jape (live in Vicar Street, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: Anyone in Vicar Street for last Saturday's Future Days Festival was in for a treat: Deerhunter, Dan Deacon, White Williams and Jape were all outstanding. Jape was somewhat of an anti-climax after Dan Deacon (who should have headlined), but the love at the venue was massive and the buzz after Dan was sweaty, electric, otherworldly. 

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
It was strange being at Vicar Street so early. The venue was close to empty when Brooklyn duo High Places came onstage. The gig warmed up slowly with a couple of curious onlookers nodding their heads to the beats. Though High Places knocked out a couple of wickedly intense tribal percussion pieces, the pair just didn't have enough charisma to warrant looking at. Ping-pong ball noises, shaky and scratchy erratic beats led into a more ambient Buddhist lounge style; Mary Pearson's vocals however sounded flat and she held a faraway look throughout the performance, as if trying to determine whether or not she'd left the iron on.

Remember those Mini Melodicas you had when you were growing up, before you realised that rockstars don't play instruments that are rainbow-coloured? Well it seems that at almost every gig I've been to lately, a band has played said instrument with renewed childhood gusto. White Williams did this, as well as mixing some funky electro indie with a more 90s sound and look (lumberjack shirts included). Some tunes had lots of alien synth effects while heavier, rockier tracks were purely for a crowd that the lead singer hoped were 'ready to mosh'.

When Deerhunter came on they exceeded all expectations. The crowd began to pick up the pace. Head-nodding turned into springing, springing turned into light jumping and dancing. The band mashed loud distorted sounds with a fiery harmonica on the stand-out track. They played a kind of old-school tingly rock with moments of euphoria, frenetic drumming, and fragments of stillness. When they finished the crowd was happy, shiny, loved up, anticipating Mr. Deacon - who of course had been wandering around the crowd chatting with everyone, smiling and generally just looking contented.

Everything about Dan Deacon is big. Big shorts, big glasses, big presence, big sound, big happy smile. And when the venue went pitch black for Dan, the crowd got bigger too. Everyone was close to bursting with excitement - you could almost feel everyone's hearts open. Dan Deacon doesn't do stages. He plays amongst the crowd, and has a light that he shines over the fans as he makes them do whatever he asks - at the beginning of the gig he told us all to 'Shut up! Shut up! You, shut up too!' Brilliant. We were then asked to raise our hands, form fists, point in the air and sink to our knees. The first track came on as we got up. Dan's trippy green skull was at the centre stage and flashed on and off as the crowd began moshing, hugging, crowd-surfing, going insane. It's been too long since gigs were like this; it makes you wonder where the whole nod-heading, thigh-tapping, style of gigs has come from. 'The Crystal Cat' made everyone go nuts. Dan made us form a huge circle around a wee spectacled boy in a Superman tee-shirt. 'Superman is gonna high-five everyone,' Dan told us. Every time you got a high five you had to run around in a circle high-fiving as many people as you could for them to join the circle. Just picture an entire crowd running around Vicar Street in a circle. For 'Snake Mistakes' we had to run through a line of people forming arches with their hands clasped together in the air. Everyone was smiling. Everyone joined in. When 'Wham City' came on people were completely at one with each other and the entire venue felt soaked with a kind of insane, sweaty, psychedelic love. The only negative thing about the performance was that Dan didn't play last.

When Jape took to the stage, the energy level was still up, but not quite as crazy. Richie Egan did look as though he were slightly off his face, but he put in a powerful, fun performance and was like a bubble of energy onstage. The crowd-surfing continued. Some of the tracks from the new album didn't sound as polished as they could have, but the crowd didn't care at that point. The final track had everyone dancing, bouncing, exploding. After the gig there was a buzz in the crowd that I haven't felt for a long time, and a sense that everyone had experienced the craziness of Dan Deacon. There's also something curiously close about sweat that seems to bind folks together.

Niamh Madden

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Plaid (live in Crawdaddy, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: More dubstep than Double Figure, Plaid knocked out a short and surprising set. There were two schools of thought: the Disappointed (discussing the performance in the smoking area) and the Dancers (who made up the electric crowd in the venue). As a disappointed dancer, the gig lay somewhere in between for me...

The Cluas Verdict? 6 out of 10

Full Review:
Support act Sunken Foal opened the night of electronica. Featuring one half of Ambulance (Duncan Murphy), the duo soaked the venue with eerie church bells and sustained apocalyptic sounds. Imagine the haunting, sweeping discords of the Radiohead's Morning Bell/Amnesiac infused with deep synths that sound like bullfrogs - and you've almost got Sunken Foal. They drifted from darkness to more euphoric moments of harmony, and brought the crowd on an emotional journey with them. As my companion said to me of their sound, 'Oh my God. It's like Kermit on crack.'

And there were dancers. Funky, nutty, crunk-esque: watching them became more exciting than watching two guys twiddling knobs and clicking keyboards. There was the girl with twisty, staccato hip grooves; the red-bearded man doing the 6-step, and a smily Asian guy who swung his arms around like a schoolboy.

Plaid took to the stage and continued with the bell-like sound of Sunken Foal. The initial noises reminded me of a horror movie, and when the bass kicked in, it kicked in HARD. When you can feel the bass throbbing in your throat and shooting up and down your spine, you know it's just that little bit too loud. At times I liked the pain; other times I felt middle-aged ('Lord. It's shockin' loud isn't it?') The real disappointment was that the Plaid gig lacked visuals. This wouldn't be a problem if the two performers performed, but there was no action onstage at all - in fact the stage felt shockingly empty and boring. There are other rooms in Tripod that cater for this - but seeing Plaid up onstage - serious, dull, looking not dissimilar to two IT guys trying to fix some ill-behaving Macs - made you wonder where to look. The sound was filling, penetrating, disturbing, but without visuals it didn't make as much of an impact as it could have.

Unsurprisingly, the crowd consisted of the usual eighty-percent male electronica heads. This was grand for me and my female companion until we tried to move anywhere. We were frequently accosted by aforementioned men, which became an irritating distraction to the music. One man even tried to impress me by shouting spoken word lyrics in my ear while Plaid were dropping some serious breakcore.

What I was expecting from the night were the ambient subtleties of Double Figure: what we got instead was industrial, dark and almost frightening with noise. I remember feeling at one point that the entire crowd may have all been descending into some deep apocalypse of sound; and being dragged down to that was almost like a slow and expected death. Which of course, some people liked. The crowd were incredibly responsive - going out for a breather was a different story. Lots of people in the smoking area seemed disappointed in the music choice. 'I mean, they went dubstep on my ass!' one girl exclaimed. Though I'm a fan of dubstep, it just didn't do it for me at this gig.

I suppose the old maxim of having no expectations can be a good thing - at this gig I feel as though I came away with no sense of growth or enlightenment. My question is: Did anyone who enjoyed this gig more than me tap into something I didn't?

Niamh Madden

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