Top 5 Irish bands this year so far, the gospel according to John.

So here we go a quick one line round up on the kick ass bands and the release this year that really got us going Bonkers. (Tinchy style)


5. Seven Summits

Belfast indie alternative band Seven Summits recently released The Worrier as a single, preceding their album Fossils. The band are a blend of The Thrills meets The Eels (not a bad thing at all). With that level of musical sophistication, they are definitely ones to watch.

4. The Raglans

This band know how to folk up a tune. They have been playing their backside off and promoting their EP Long Live. They put on a fairly decent show. Think The Travelling Band with a bit of Paulo Nutini toned down. They just keep getting better. A firm favourite of mine is Where the Rain don't fall. Reckon their gonna stick around and are in this 'music' thing for the long haul.

3. Wallis Bird

Bird has been flying around the nest for a very long time and migrating overseas to as far as Europe and the UK, where she has managed to build for herself a fine few fans. The new record is a grand masterpiece of where she is now and how she got to where she is. Where she is going..who knows? but we bet it'll be an awesome ride. if you haven't got a Wallis Bird record in your collection, get it!! *slap on the head* you won't be sorry.

2. Adela & The Meanits

Who said what? where, when, how? This hectic gypsy-hootin-tooting band with the most zaniest front woman on the planet or at least in Laois, are fast becoming the hipster band to watch, love and talk about. They are all kinds of wild, which is no surprise they called their upcoming album 'Kinda Wild' set for a Sept release. On their facebook page the band pics have more photos with band members clasping bottle of Buckfast than a Buckfast ad would ever have. Perhaps theres a hidden endorsement deal in there somewhere... Worth mentioning that they embark on a 32 gig tour of every county in Ireland in the month of August. What an epic idea? Hope they don't run out of loo paper and bring plenty of Buck Fast on the road with them. This band are HOT with a Capital T and if they don't damn well get the success they deserve, well, I'll be god damned.

1. KOPEK

Number one has to be the hottest band on the block right now: Kopek. I mean...3 piece bands.. just don't come any more perfect that these guys. Tight as a nuns lips, this band are bringing the rock back into roll. Their recent online global gig from a sold out venue of The Belfast Empire Music Hall for their GiftedLive set had twitter on fire from fans across the globe hailing KOPEK as the best band in the world.. its a far shot but who knows, maybe one day...Their set was pristine, polished and impressively projected their veteran performances that see the band give 110% to their fans. I'd even go as far as to say they made The Answer look like the act who should've opened for them. Their album 'White Collar Lies' has fueled the soundtracks to films such as American Pie Reunion & Saw 3D and its very simple as to why that is; their music is epic.  With tracks such as Love Is Dead, Floridian, The Easy Way... picking up substantial amounts of airplay among the stations that matter, we think 2012 will be the year of the Pek. Amen. \m/

The video for LOVE IS DEAD aint too bad on the eyes either- please let them release this as a single, its shouting out for daytime radio :



Written by - John- he likes tea.

MotorcycleDisplayTeam impress with new album.

MOTORCYCLE DISPLAY TEAM are an alternative power-pop band. Based out of the UK, the band also have Irish band members and heritage. No strangers to controversy and the adventures of being in a band; such as stalkers and arrests, onstage fights, provocative costumes and not to mention dealing with mental health issues within the band… the build-up and recording of their debut album caused one of the members to have a nervous breakdown. Jeepers we hope he is ok now.... There is a fine line between genius....The album was recorded in a juxtaposed atmosphere of laughs, sweat, Citalopram and anxiety attacks. So what can we expect then???

A superb conundrum of punk pop styled high adrenaline tracks ‘Captatio Benevolentiae’ was Produced and mixed by Cesar Gimeno Lavin of Modest Mouse and White Lies fame. It’s 11 songs of immediate impact that, because of its traditional album length of 39 minutes, lends itself for repeated and very addictive listening.  Its official release date is Fri Oct 5th, preceded by singles 'Betweenager' (August 17th) - (which I have already heard a a couple of radio waves ) and 'Brickwall' (Sept 28th) Two of their previous songs have been featured in the Channel 4 youth drama ‘Hollyoaks’ and on BBC sitcom ‘Off The Hook’. MDT where awarded ‘Unsigned Band of the Month’ on We7 and  ‘band of the week’ on Absolute Radio, which is a one of the leading FM radio stations in the UK. Garnering a powerful word of mouth endorsement for their live gigs, they are set to perform on one of the main entertainment stages on Blackheath Green in south London for the 2012 Olympics on Super Saturday on the 4th August. And they have been residents in The Dublin Castle in Camden and The New Cross Inn in New Cross – both of which are leading venues in London. Irish date: Thurs 25th October- The Grand Social, Dublin More TBA. 

To wet the appetite check out their insanely cool new video for Single 'Betweenagers'.

Betweenager, Motorcycle Display Team from Carwell Casswell on Vimeo.

Temper-Mental MissElayneous – ‘Step Into The Ring’ feat. Louise Macnamara of Heathers

The uber cool Temper-Mental MissElayneous new track ‘Step Into The Ring’ is an ode to Irish world champion boxer and Olympic hopeful Katie Taylor. It features some backing vocals from Louise MacNamara of Heathers and Eberhart who also produced the track.

It is worth noting that for the €1 the track costs on Bandcamp- All proceeds from the song go to Peter McVerry Trust. Fair play is all we can we can say. The track is pretty cool too.

Video is below.

Its a fact: Christian Bale is a complete legend

This is not a music post, but who cares.. this deserves a mention. It's all over the web....The star of The Batman trilogy flew to the Medical Centre of Aurora to sit down with the victims as well as visit a memorial of those tragically killed. Its a fact: Christian Bale is a complete legend for taking the time to visit the victims of the Dark Knight Rises Colorado shootings in hospital.

Despite the devastation that these poor people have gone throughk, Oscar-winning Bale still managed to bring a smile to their faces. Carey Rottman posted two photos of himself (below) with the real Bruce Wayne on his Facebook, saying: "Wow!!! Thank you so much for the visit Christian!! What a great guy! Still in shock!" while another person kept it simple with "Batman!"

Commenting on the tragedy over the weekend, Bale said in a statement: "Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them."

Twitter was also alight with photos of the star in the hospital hallways surrounded by doctors and nurses. According to The Denver Post, Christian Bale spent over two hours with 5 of the victims still in treatment and another two who joined him from the Swedish Medical Centre. E! report that Bill Voloch, president of the medical centre told the newspaper: "They are obviously big fans of his movies. They wanted to see Batman and were really pleased to see Bale."