Interview // BATS

Originally published in the Irish Sun on Friday, August 31.

“Come along and have your faces melted!” laughs BATS frontman Rupert Morris as the Dublin five-piece prepare to land at Electric Picnic with their explosive brand of science-fuelled heavy metal.

BATS are far from your average rock band, and their music is infused with a burning desire to educate and transform people’s minds, as demonstrated by the title of their upcoming second album, ‘The Sleep of Reason.’

“The title track is called ‘The Sleep of Reason Brings Forth Monsters.’ Our mission statement is that we’re taking a stance for science and stabbing the traditions of religion and pseudo-science and superstition, and we’re doing it in the form of danceable metal and exotic post-punk.”

Interview // Andy Cairns of Therapy?

At long, long last, I finally witnessed Therapy? live at Vicar St on Thursday night, and they absolutely killed it. The tracks from the new album, A Brief Crack of Light, sounded amazing alongside classics like ‘Die Laughing’ and ‘Stories,’ before they finished with two of the best songs you’ll ever hear, ‘Knives’ and ‘Screamager.’ The mix was fantastic, the guitars chunky and the drumming was colossal – some feat considering the band had to postpone the initial date in March to allow drummer Neil Cooper to recover from a broken hand.

A few weeks ago I spoke to Andy Cairns about the new album and the (then) upcoming dates in Dublin and Cork. Here’s the interview from the May 4th edition of the Irish Sun.

“Educated guitar music like we play always seems to come back into fashion when the economy is up the skite,“ laughs Therapy? frontman Andy Cairns ahead of the band’s dates in Dublin and Cork next week.

 “When Therapy? started in the Nineties, that was the last time that there was a really bad economic downturn in Ireland and all of a sudden our music seemed to resonate.“

The Northern Irish trio have endured many a boom and bust cycle – both in terms of the economy and their own commercial success – during their more than 20 year existence, and it’s testament to their longevity that their brand of rebellious hardcore-tinged heavy rock is as vital and relevant as ever.

Free Music // Logikparty – ‘Anti-Omerta’

I don’t usually post ‘news’ on here since I like to be a bit more reflective and there are people who do news posts much better than I do, but Logikparty posted a new track called ‘Anti-Omerta’ a couple of hours ago and I just can’t get it out of my head, Kylie-style.

It’s weird. I put off listening to Logikparty for ages – in spite of numerous recommendations – because I’d assumed, based on their name, that they were some sort of Kraftwerk knock-off. While they do have some new wavey, vaguely electronic impulses, they’re basically straight up minimalist post-punk with Benni Johnston’s impassioned, pleading voice the real stand-out. And they’re pretty fucking good.

‘Anti-Omerta’ is the opening track from the group’s excellently-titled debut album, Oh Cult!, which was recorded in London earlier this year and is scheduled for release in March through the Richter Collective. Cop yerselves a listen below or download it for free from Bandcamp.

New Music // Empty Lungs – ‘Identity Lost’

Belfast punk trio Empty Lungs have been knocking around for about a year now and ‘Identity Lost’ is their first formal release, a three-track single produced by Rocky O’Reilly (of the late, great Oppenheimer).