All The Few are a 4-piece group from Belfast. Having released a couple of well-received singles in 2019, they are gearing up for the release of their debut E.P. Taken from it is "Remedy", a confident indie-rock single that has a touch of the Kings of Leon in their more anthemic, stadium-hugging mode, and a strong foundation stone for the band going forward.
"Remedy" is taken from the E.P "Sorry, Try Again", which will be launched on 27th March in Love & Death in Belfast.
The Belfast-based group Buífirst came to our attention back in 2017 off the release of their album "Eugene", and particular its lead track, "People Don't Think", which was a lovely chunk of lo-fi gooeyness.
They've since signed to a label run by producer Julie McLarnon, and the first release to come from this is "Something Else To Talk About", which if you've never heard Buí before is a great introduction to them, and if you have, it's a good continuation of their already established sound. The song is very much indebted to 90s American alternative rock, with its use of analogue synthesizers and slacker-esque sensibility calling to mind the sound of Grandaddy & early Fountains of Wayne, with a little bit of Pavement thrown in for good measure. It's not often we hear bands from here embracing this kind of lo-fi sounds here, so it is quite a refreshing track.
Just as refreshing is the music video for the song, which is an 8-bit animated extravaganza, which sees the band walking past some of their favourite places around Belfast, including McHughs, the Duncairn Arts Centre, The Empire, and of course Boojum (because there is is a rule in place - if you are from Belfast and you enjoy Boojum, then it is your duty to tell everyone who is not from Belfast that when you come to Belfast, you have to visit Boojum).
"Something Else To Talk About" is out now as a 7" vinyl, backed with "People Don't Think", on Analogue Catalogue Records.
This afternoon, I went to the cash machine at St George's Market in Belfast, in order to take out some money. To my surprise, I found that the Cashzone machine, which up until that point had been free of charge, was now charging a fee of £1 for any withdrawals. This mildly infuriated me, as it would be to anyone who found themselves being charged for something that up until recently they could access for nowt.
This is not an isolated case, as I had heard from a lot of people in my local area that several cash machines that had previously been free were now charging a fee for withdrawals, with some people finding that the closest free machine was many miles further away than it previously was. I contacted Cashzone to understand the reason for this - they explained that the reason that some fees had been introduced was because the banks have cut the fees that they receive for each withdrawal, and therefore to continue operating they will need need to charge a fee for each withdrawal. Although interestingly, according to a recent article, this fee has been cut by just 5p per transaction, so a charge of £1 seems above and beyond what would be required to balance out any losses, but hey ho, it's not my company.
There are two main reasons why the introduction of this fee annoyed me. Firstly, it is because if possible, I prefer to spend physical money where I have the opportunity to, rather than by card or by app. There is a psychological reason why I prefer this - according to research, we are less likely to spend money when we pay by cash than by any other means, as our brains see such transactions as more painful when money is physically exchanged, therefore we are more likely to be savvier when we pay for things with cash. I know there are several things that I would never have bought had I come across them in a shop, compared to something that piqued my interest whilst browsing online (occasionally, influenced by alcohol). Over the years, these have included such joys as the soundtrack to the 1991 film Ranma ½: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China, a toilet brush shaped like a cherry, or a sweater based upon an 1859 woodcarving by Utagawa Hiroshige.
Still, worth every penny
There is another, slightly more pertinent reason why I prefer cash - there are some things you have have no option but to pay cash for. The reason why I took out money from the cash machine was to pay to top up my bus ticket, which in many shops in Belfast you can only do using cash. I've also seen over the years that there are other items, such as lottery tickets & fuel top-ups which will only take cash, which can be rather annoying when you go to pay for it once it has been topped up, only to have to run out to the cash machine when you realise it doesn't take cards. A recent article has claimed that around 25 million people in the UK alone would find it hard to live without cash, so that's a lot of people who are likely to get peeved off if they find themselves having to pay a quid every time they take money out of the machine.
So what does all this have to do with music (this nominally being a music blog, after all?) Well, after being hit by the charge, it got me thinking of the one activity where I would spend quite a lot of physical cash, and that is going to gigs. As someone who enjoys local music, quite a lot of the gigs that I would go to would be cash-only affairs, paying for a ticket on the door, and handing over dosh for any merchandise that I may or may not buy (especially if said merch includes mugs - oh gosh, how I love branded mugs). If paying to take out money becomes the norm, could it mean that myself and others will be less likely to take out money, and therefore spend less money at grassroots music events, therefore meaning decreased earnings for artists to get by on?
Quite possibly, although I'm probably being a little over-dramatic. After all, even if we are become more of a cashless society, there are still ways for grassroots artists to sell tickets & merch without relying on money - they can sell tickets for their gigs on websites such as Eventbrite (indeed, one local artist managed to sell over 150 tickets for his album launch last week through this platform), and as for merch, they can use apps such as iZettle to easily take debit card payments (indeed, the app is even being used by buskers to take payments - although you'd have to be very trusting to give some money that way). The drawback with those services of course is that they will take a small but significant cut of any earnings you make from payments through them, which could lead you somewhat worse off. Although as I mentioned earlier, people are psychologically more willing to pay for something if they don't physically transfer the money over, so swings & roundabouts.
I would love to know your thoughts on all this, especially if you are a musician. Do you still rely mainly on cash for your takings at gigs? And if people were less likely to take cash with them to gigs, do you think this would adversely impact you?
In conclusion, music good. Cash machine charges, bad.
Hailing from Belfast via the north coast, the finely-facial haired trio Ferals first made a name for themselves in 2018 off the back of their ode to the former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, and subsequently got picked up for the Oh Yeah Centre's "Scratch My Progress" for career development.
They've got 2019 off to a bang with their new single, "The Low", which is a great demonstration of their noise-y, post-rock sound. It calls to mind a more angular version of Biffy Clyro, with its heavily distorted guitar hooks and gang vocals.
Belfast based 4-piece Hand Models have been building up a name for themselves locally over the past few years, gaining support from the Oh Yeah Centre's Scratch My Progress scheme, and gaining radio play both locally and nationally with songs like "Skate Shoes". They've also been building up a name for themselves locally, the most recent of which being a well-regarded summer party in the Limelight to raise money for a mental health charity.
They've been a name that we've heard a lot about for some time, but it is their latest single that has really caught our ear. "Banana" is very much the epitome of slacker-rock in the Pavement mould, and that's not only due to the repeated refrain of "I did nothing" that recurs throughout the song. They've released a music video to go with it, which takes the title of the song as literal as you could possibly get, with the band dressing up in banana suits and getting up to various kinds of tomfoolery around places that anyone who's spent any time in Belfast will be immediately familiar with.
It's a great to have some music from singer/songwriter, viral video sensation, & former guest on The Metaphorical Boat's podcast, Owen Denvir. His last release was the experimental "Motion Picture Soundtrack" E.P, which contained the fabulous "You Don't Want To Love Me" amongst other gems, and his new single sees him moving back into more accessible, poppier territory.
"Jackhammer" is a remixed version of a single he self-released a few years ago, with the new version adding a new layer to the already pretty great track. There are echoes of "Lego House" by Ed Sheeran in the song, which is about a heartbreak Denvir experienced following moving abroad. It's his most radio-friendly song he's released to date, and should hopefully earn the Belfast songwriter a few new fans in the process.
"Jackhammer" is out now, and is backed with "Green Light" as a b-side.
On each episode of The Metaphorical Boat Podcast, Christopher McBride, the Captain of The Metaphorical Boat, will sit down with one of his favourite musicians, and over a cup of a lovely caffeinated beverage and a bun or tray-bake of the artist's choosing (The Captain always goes for Battenberg. Always), chat through the artist's life, musical highlights, and most importantly, how many sugars they take.
Our guest on this episode of The Metaphorical Boat Podcast is John McManus from Antrim/Belfast six-piece Runabay, who talks about the band's new single "Too Soon", how Runabay's live set has evolved, whether he prefers songs that come together quickly or slowly, and whether he'd like to see their music used in adverts.
Listen or download now on Soundcloud or on iTunes:
This is an act that we have been waiting for new music from for a long time, although under a different name.
The Belfast band Southern are a duo that we have been writing on The Metaphorical Boat since day 1 (literally). We watched Thomas & Lucy Gaffney* increasingly build up a name for themselves, releasing great songs such as "Where The Wild Are" & "Where I Want To Be", and by 2014 we had a feeling they were going to be massive when we were unable to get in to see them at The Great Escape because there was a queue snaking around the building waiting to see them too.
Unfortunately, after that year we didn't hear anything from the band for some time, which we have now learned is due to an illness that befell Thomas. However, we were delighted to learn last month that the duo are now back making music together again, and have relaunched themselves under the name MMODE.
Their first single under their new name is "Waiting In The Desert", and is a hazy, tune that has shades of 90s indie-rock and Jagwar Ma-esque psychedelia. It's great to have Thomas & Lucy back doing what they do best - making ruddy fantastic pop tunes.
"Waiting In The Desert" is out now.
*whilst recording as Southern, Thomas & Lucy used the surname "Southern" in all their promotional material, so we assume that this was a pseudonym and "Gaffney" is in fact their real surname.
On each episode of The Metaphorical Boat Podcast, Christopher McBride, the Captain of The Metaphorical Boat, will sit down with one of his favourite musicians, and over a cup of a lovely caffeinated beverage and a bun or tray-bake of the artist's choosing (The Captain always goes for Battenberg. Always), chat through the artist's life, musical highlights, and most importantly, how many sugars they take.
Our guests on this episode of The Metaphorical Boat Podcast is Belfast trio Beauty Sleep. Cheylene, Ryan & Aimee from the band dropped by to talk about their music, being inspired by art, playing festivals, whether they really are a dream-pop band, and "The Seagull Incident".
Listen or download now on Soundcloud or on iTunes:
This is one of those songs that probably might not make sense to people who live outside of "our wee province", but it's such a great little ditty nonetheless.
Lo-Fi Fun Factory is an alternative folk trio based in Belfast made up of Dan Tindall, Alan Thompson & James Canning. They've been together since 2010, and have released a smattering of songs in that time. However, it is their latest single, "Sunny Belfast", that has caught our attention, through its self-depreciating, yet still warm, tribute to the city.
A lot of the references might go over the head of those who don't live here, but for those of us that do, we are absolutely tickled by references to the Big Fish, trying to park anywhere near St George's Market, an economy that's being propped up by Game Of Thrones, and of course the ridiculous 20 mph speed limit that's been imposed on Belfast city centre.
It's a great, Penguin Cafe Orchestra-esque experimental folk ditty, although I would be curious to know how it goes down from people who are less familiar with Belfast and its foibles.
"Sunny Belfast" is available to purchase now, and is the first song from a new song a month project that is currently in progress.
The members of Belfast duo WASPS (not to be confused with the similarly monikered American metal band) decided to form a band together when Danny McClelland (ex-Born Only Yesterday) and Charlie Cairns (formerly of Lost Avenue) realised that they both had tattoos of And So I Watch You From Afar, which anyone who has ever watched Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny can tell you is the only way you are allowed to start a rock band.
They created an early buzz* with the single "Godzilla Is Dead", and they are following it up with "Future Endeavours", and from the sounds of it, they do wear the influences on their sleeves, both literally and metaphorically. There's the DNA of ASIWYFA throughout the song, with its intricate guitar playing and ever-shifting rhythms and time signatures, although its impassioned, emo vocals do allow it to be a good entry point for people who may find other math-rock to be a bit too inaccessible for them. It's a great song from a band whose music has a real sting** to it.
"Future Endeavours" is released on March 17th.
*I am not sorry. I am not sorry in the slightest. **I apologize for nothing.
It's been a few months since we last talked about Belfast singer-songwriter Owen Denvir following the release of his "Green Light" single. As well as continuing to please local crowds with his live performances, he also enjoy a mini-blitz of media attention when a music video he made of himself playing a mash-up of Coldplay songs went viral after the band themselves tweeted about it.
Owen recently released a music video E.P, "Motion Picture Soundtrack", with each song on the record being accompanied by a live video of the track. The E.P seems to have gone down well, and one track in particular has been so well received that it has been promoted to full single status. "You Don't Want To Love Me" has been described as his tribute to "Eleanor Rigby", and you can hear why, with strings being brought to the forefront of an Owen Denvir single for the first time. It's a really lovely, heart-tugger of a song, and the triplicate of violas really give it that extra level of pathos.
"You Don't Want To Love Me" is released as a single on 10th March.
It has been quite a while since we've done one of these, but we've been absolutely inundated with interesting new songs from Northern Ireland in the past few weeks that we couldn't just leave them floating around on the interwebs unloved, so we have pulled some great songs together in one lovely post. Enjoy - Invaderband - Not Alan Rickman Invaderband is the project of Derry based Mancunian artist Adam Leonard (formerly of The Owl Service), and features a host of local musicians in the band, including Chris McConaghy of Our Krypton Son. Their self-titled debut album has just been released, and is a great collection of garage-rock tunes with a spiky, off-kilter sense of humour. Our highlight from the album is most definitely "Not Alan Rickman", a song build around a deceptively simple yet effective guitar riff which pays homage to four of the late actor's most famous roles in under 2 minutes. ------------------------------------- Porphyry- Rip Current
And we stay in Derry for Porphyry, the near unpronounceable project of self-professed freak-folk & synth lover Daryl Coyle. His debut single "Rip Current" is a bit of a cerebral one, and one that very much defies characterisation, being very difficult to tie down to just one style. There's elements of Zero 7's chilled-out acoustronica, there's bits of post-grunge self-appraisal, and the outro goes into full electronic noodling mode. It's an interesting combination of styles, although one suspects that it might be somewhat of an acquired taste. It precedes a debut E.P, "Ursa Minor/Coming Home", which is due to be released on March 1st.
The Derry-based folk collective Oisín ó Scolaí& The Virginia Slims have just released "An E.P Full of Water", a collection of songs that cover many different facets of the folk spectrum in all its forms. Our favourite track from the E.P is "Intoxicated Waitress", a tender, string-swept acoustic tune that seems to be something of an homage to fellow Derry musician Soak. A lovely little tune.
And finishing us off this week is something a bit different. Electric Octopus are a Belfast based trio psychedelic-blues band, and have seemingly became something of a big deal among aficionados of the sub-genre over the past 12 months, even if they remain under the radar in their hometown. Their debut album "This Is Our Culture", has been a surprise success, with over 700,000 streams of the album on YouTube, and a horde of supporters on Bandcamp.
Such has been the success of the album that a new pressing of the album came out a few days ago, so there's still some steam in it yet. Taken from that album is the stoner-rock opener, "Disenchanted Creative Response", which although it is nearly 20 minutes long, is a very rewarding listen if you've got the patience for it.
The debut single from Belfast-based trio Beauty Sleep pushed quite a lot of people's metaphorical buttons when it came out at the start of the year. "The Dark" has been streamed over 50,000 times on Soundcloud, been picked up by lots of blogs, earning it a lot of love on the Hype Machine, and has been played on nearly every Irish radio station, as well as a few stations a little further afield.
Now six months later, the band have unveiled their follow-up single, which they hope can capitalize on the success of their debut. "Living Right" sounds like just the song to do that, in that it is both comfortably familiar to those already familiar with Beauty Sleep whilst offering something a little bit different. "Living Right" retains the hazy dream-pop sound that characterized their debut, but has a more extroverted, punchier sound that its predecessor, reminding us a little bit of Chapterhouse in places. Plus, it's got a whopping massive chorus that you can't just help but fall in love with.
This photo above was taken in the 1930s by a photographer living in the Midwest of the United States of America, depicting a young sharecropper of that period. Unfortunately, the devastation to his crops caused by the catastropic effects of the Dust Bowl proved too much for Oklahoma native Owen Denvir, and he finally succumbed to illness in 1937, aged just 26. Modern technology has been able to enhance the picture to make it fully coloured, so we can have a good idea of what Owen Denvir would look like if he were still alive today.
Wait, that image ISN'T of a Grapes of Wrath era farmer, and is actually that of a Belfast-based musician? Okay, we'll start again.
Singer/songwriter/viola-wielder Owen Denvir has been slowly building up a following over the past year or so since receiving a push through the Oh Yeah! Centre's Scratch My Progress scheme. He released a well-received E.P "Daydreamer" back in October, and he has had some viral success with several of his multi-tracked cover videos, covering artists as diverse as Jackson Five, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and in a self-deprecating manner, Amy Winehouse.
Now he has released a brand new single, "Green Light", a song which should make a few more people fall under his spell. The song is a passionate, tender singer/songwriter-y song in the mold of James Bay or Passenger, which is punctuated by bursts of Owen's viola fiddling. Plus, it's hard not to be won over by a song that features an uplifting Carubian choir.
Back in February, Belfast trio/duo* Tuskany got a lot of people excited with their debut single, the synth-poptastic "Better Time", picking up a lot of blog love and local love along the way.
Their follow-up single is "Shapes", a song that follows on nicely from the synthy stylings of their debut, and sees the group starting to forge out their own particular musical identity. Dollops of electronic sounds, catchy choruses, and a towering (and gloriously unfashionable!) guitar solo make this a fine addition to the band's ever growing wall of sounds. Like Roqueford or Camembert, "Shapes" is cheesy, but wrapped up in fashionable attire.
*The press image for the band's debut single presented Tuskany as a trio, however the promo pics for this release seem to depict them as a duo. Although they still play live as a trio, one of them has taken a step back from 'official member' status, so technically there's both two and three members of the band. Hopefully that's all well and clear.
It's been nearly a year since Belfast 5-piece Pleasure Beach first grabbed us by the thingies with their debut single "Go". Now 12 months and with an E,P under their belt, things are looking rather swimtastic for them. They've been streamed a ridiculous amount of times on Soundcloud & the like, and they found themselves on the longlist for the Blog Sound of 2016. They've got a busy schedule over the next few months, with the band seemingly booked for every festival going, including a gig at The Great Escape in Brighton on May 20th (where your humble captain hopes to see them live for the first time, something which is well overdue).
But before all that, the band have just released their first new song of the calendar year, "Magic Mountain". If you've heard Pleasure Beach before, you'll know what you're getting, their sound is a little bit Bruce Springsteen, and quite a bit of The War on Drugs as well.
Which leads to the obvious question, which is that if their sound is so much indebted to those artists, why listen to Pleasure Beach when you can listen to The Boss or WOD instead? It's a question that we've been pondering for some time, but I think we've finally got an answer - joy. There's the old cliché that no-one gets a happy ending in a Bruce Springsteen song, whilst the sound of the War on Drugs tends to be very inwards looking. When you listen to a Pleasure Beach song on the other hand, its extroverted sounds makes you feel like you can take on the world, rather than succumb to it, and there's a feeling of hope within their words, even if it doesn't always appear that way at first. And sometimes that's just what we want from music.
"Magic Mountain" is another strong entry in Pleasure Beach's already strong arsenal of tunes. Let's see what other heights they can climb to for the rest of the year.
It's been quite a while since we've done a round-up of a few songs from Northern Ireland from Northern Ireland that we haven't featured on the blog before that have floated our Metaphorical Boat, so there's no time like the present to fix said predicament - Brand New Friend - I Was An Astronaut
We've mentioned Taylor Johnson, Northern Ireland's answer to the Duracell Bunny, on TMB on several occasions, both in relation to the music blog he runs, the fabulous Encore NI, as well as his music ventures (he was the lead singer of Paper Man, a band whom we briefly featured in a Round-Up in 2013).
Now firmly back in the musical saddle, at the tail end of last year he formed Brand New Friend with his sister Lauren. In the short few months that 2016 has been a thing, they've started to make a mark for themselves. They were the winners of Chordblossom's Kickstart competition (previous winner have included blog favourites such as In An Instant, Lauren Bird, and most notably, SOAK), and were featured on Tom Robinson's Mixtape on 6music.
"I Was An Astronaut" is their debut single, and although it's a little bit rough around the edges, you can really hear the potential of the group coming through. It's an enjoyable indie-rock song filled with youthful exuberance and pleasant interlocking vocals from the Johnsons.
The debut single from Belfast 4-piece Dandelion Tea, "The Crystal Dawn" seems to be a constituent of a sub-genre that we like to dub 'floaty cloud music', i.e music so relaxing and therapeutic that it's like a aural equivalent of floating across the sky on a massive cloud. It's a lovely mix of glacial synths, acoustic guitars and the right amount of heart. It's due to feature on their first E.P "A Picnic In Limbo", and if "The Crystal Dawn" is anything to go by, it'll by a luscious release indeed.
---------------------------------------- Bisous - Lie After Lie
There's not a lot of information floating around the interwebs about Belfast's Bisous. We're not even entirely sure as to whether it's just one guy or a group. Either way, the single "Lie After Lie" has got us enthralled with its sunny lo-fi synth pop aesthetic. I expect that there's a lot more to come from him/them as his/their sound develops, but it's an interesting beginning nonetheless
And we finish off this month's round-up with perhaps the most bizarre band from Derry that we've had the pleasure/opportunity (delete as appropriate) to see in the past few years. We saw Strength a few months back after they were the support act for Beauty Sleep's debut gig. The band appeared to be more of a performance art project than just a band, with the group mixing esoteric spoken word, synths that appeared to be taken from the soundtrack from Age of Empires, and interpretive dance. Their bassist also has the most ludicrous haircut we have ever seen in our life.
Still, they definitely made an impact, at least to the point of wanting to check out more of their music after the gig. Check out their most recent single, the deliciously nutty "Northern Ireland Yes", as well as the video for said single, and keep in mind that live, they are at least ten times more stark-raving bonkers.
After giving us one of the best songs on 2014 with "Call Sign", Belfast five-piece Go Swim had a relatively laid back 2015, with no new music and just the occasional live outing. 2016 is shaping up to be a bigger year for them however, and to get it going for them they have just released a new single.
"Surrender" is a little less frantic and bit more subdued compared to songs like "Call Sign" and "Animal" that the band have given us in the past, but still has all the hallmarks of a Go Swim - the boy/girl harmonies, the dreamy guitar hooks and licks and tongue-twisting wordplay that have given us a lot of pleasure over the years.
It seems like it has been ages since we last talked about Belfast/Strabane trio A Northern Light. Well actually, it has. 2 years and seven months, to be precise. When the band released "Kill It" back in 2013, a song that meshed the organic and synthetic so seamlessly and effortlessly, it appeared that the band had finally cracked things and would be on their way to bigger things very quickly. Unfortunately since then we haven't heard as much from the guys, but thankfully 2016 is going to see the group stepping things up with a two-part album in the pipeline.
The first track to be taken from the release is "Paranoia", a track that should hopefully put the band back on the map. Like its predecessor, it sees the band mixing up live instrumentation with electronic goodness, with its mix of rock and heavy drum and bass calling to mind the sound that brought Pendulum to super-stardom in the late 00s. It's a song that sounds like it give immeasurable pleasure to both the dance crowd and the Kerrang! crowd, which if they play their cards right could be a winning combination for them.
Given the gap between releases, there was the worry that A Northern Light would lose the momentum that they had started to build with "Kill It". Thankfully, "Paranoia" should do enough to energise those who first fell in love with the band way back when, and hopefully pick up a fair few new followers along the way.
