POSTS TAGGED : Silverbacks

Silverbacks – ‘Sirens’

Dublin-based post-punk outfit Silverbacks continue their propensity for brilliance with new single ‘Sirens’ – something we’ve become accustomed to with a steady stream of singles over the past few years.

While we still await their debut album (rumoured to be primed for release next year) any new material from Silverbacks is most welcome indeed and with ‘Sirens’, they are signing off 2019 in some style. Silverbacks have once again teamed up with Girl Band’s Daniel Fox who also produced ‘Dunkirk’, ‘Just In The Band’ and ‘Pink Tide’ and is every bit as brilliant as the other tracks, and is probably their most irresistible single yet. Built around a propulsive bass-line, kinetic rhythms and barrage of razor-edged guitars that all coalesce to one united tight interlocked groove; ‘Sirens’ is phenomenal. It unleashes a relentless energy as it hits the sweet spot between melodic repetition, pent up aggression and danceable infectiousness, like an LCD groove hanging out with the jerky art-rock infection of Futureheads, as Daniel O’Kelly’s vocals reflect as such, fluctuating from focused to distraction. A simply stunning single, and one their best yet – hopefully the debut album is with us sooner rather than later.

Listen to ‘Sirens’ below:

Also, people of Derry, Silverbacks are in town to play the Nerve Centre on December 13.

Silverbacks – ‘Pink Tide’

Over the past few years, a few things have become certainties; my hair is not going to get any less greyer, Wrexham will break my heart come the season’s end and Silverbacks releases don’t disappoint.

The most recent Dublin-based outfit have been been nothing short of phenomenal; the unrelenting, unshakeable and sometimes post-punk spectacles of ‘Just In The Band’, ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Just For A Better View’. Firmly in the here and now, Silverbacks are back with whispers of an album in 2019 and new single ‘Pink Tide’.

Like their other recent releases, ‘Pink Tide’ is once again recorded with Girl Band’s Daniel Fox, and raucous and buzzing with a jagged edged exuberance. Interlocking guitars provide precise freneticism, and pivots ‘Pink Tide’ off-kilter as Dan O’Kelly delivers his low-toned and world weary vocals. It is effortlessly gritty with scintillating riffs and guitar work, and when the solo kicks in at the 2:30 mark, provides a cathartic jolt towards the finish. It is barbed, searing and raucous without ever being messy, in fact incredibly tight, kept in check by the metronomic drums and those frenetic guitars. Electrifying, explosive and exhilarating as per usual – in my humble opinion, Silverbacks are Ireland’s finest emerging band.

Tune in to ‘Pink Tide’ below:

Ten Tracks of 2018

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Whittling down your favourite tracks of any year is an arduous task and this year, a particularly good one musically, has proven equally if not more difficult.

That said, in the interest of posterity, I condensed it down to ten and there is a nice extended 30-track playlist below too.

So, in no particular order, here are my favourite ten (then 30 below) tracks of 2018. Enjoy!

Omaloma – ‘Bubblegum’

Welsh artist Omaloma aka George Amor (Serol Serol & Sen Segur) has carved out special space on the musical landscape with a series of blissful, spacey psych-pop singles; ‘Ha Ha Haf’, ‘Aros O Gwmpas’ and ‘Eniwe’ in recent years.

This year, Omaloma added ‘Bubblegum’ to this burgeoning list of stellar singles. A first on vinyl, released as a 7″ single, ‘Bubblegum’ is utterly divine and marks the pinnacle of the project thus far. Sung in English and Welsh, ‘Bubblegum’ is a four-minute sojourn to a spellbinding interstellar paradise. It coolly swaggers as it moves on by, leaving us in a dream-like state, with an alluring blend of slinky, synth-pop with psych brush strokes, woozy synth lines and Amor’s soft, soothing bilingual vocals. Instantly lovable, it breezes gracefully by with a seductive soulful underbelly and charm to woo you.

ilu – ‘Graffiti Hen Ewrop’

Dividing their time recording between Tallinn, Estonia and rural Wales, Ilu are a Welsh Psych/Krautrock outfit crafting epic, spacey, interstellar hymns – of Spiritualized proportions. Backing up these lofty claims is stunning debut single ‘Graffiti Hen Ewrop’. Propelled along Krautrock, motoric grooves ‘Graffiti Hen Ewrop’, spacey synths and heavenly harmonies envelop spiky post-punk guitars and bass rumbles which coalesces into one coherent, unstoppable sound. Sizzling danceable grooves are woven tightly into their mammoth tones and grinding churn, which is all punctuated with a beautiful yet melancholic sense of longing. As far as debut singles go, they don’t come much bigger or better than ‘Graffiti Hen Ewrop’; an immaculate palate of sonics, sounds and textures.

Accü – ‘Did You Count Your Eyes?’

Accü is the multifaceted, genre blending solo project of Cardiff-based musician and producer Angharad Van Rijswijk. Accü’s debut album Echo The Red is one of 2018’s very best and lead single ‘Did You Count Your Eyes?’ is quite something. An offbeat exploration of imaginative experimentation and colourful, kaleidoscopic sounds, ‘Did You Count Your Eyes?’ is a spellbinding cosmic sojourn to psychedelic space. Fusing elements of frayed electronics, squelchy synths, soft-edged psych-pop it tips along a tidy drum beat with reverb-laced vocals swaying through a cascading sequence of crackling, frazzled electronics. Moving with a dreamlike, otherworldly aura; ‘Did You Count Your Eyes?’ is colourful, imaginative and fearlessly exploratory off-kilter pop.

Silverbacks – ‘Dunkirk’

Dublin-based outfit Silverbacks have delighted and excited at every turn thus far and none more so than with ‘Dunkirk’. A sprawling three-minutes of post-punk underpinned by an insistent, nagging bassline and increasingly manic, winding guitar lines, metronomic drumbeat and Gang of Four calibre bass lines. It is the ideal backdrop for Daniel O’Kelly’s stream of conscious musings of a dystopian future where Dunkirk, despite its history, has become a built-up holiday destination for young families. ‘Dunkirk’ is Silverbacks at their finest and signals strongest their evolution beyond their early Pavement-esque beginnings, to a coveted plain where parts Talking Heads, Television, LCD Soundsystem and Gang of Four can all coexist and flourish.

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Silverbacks – ‘Just In The Band’

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Over the past number of years, Silverbacks have excited at every given opportunity but with recent singles more singles ‘Just for a Better View’ and ‘Dunkirk’, they stepped it up a gear.

The Dublin-based outfit are back with a similarly excellent and exhilarating new single ‘Just In The Band’. Underpinned with a lingering sense of unease, ‘Just In The Band’ hares off at a frenetic pace and doesn’t relent. Propelled forward by galloping, taut drums and unrelenting bass, feedback soaked, shape-shifting guitars snap together as to work as one forceful sound with Daniel O’Kelly’s sing-speak delivery growing more agitated and frenzied to match the harassed rhythms.

Tracking the Silverbacks journey has been nothing short of thrilling. From their slanted, slacker Pavement inspired beginnings, their sound has evolved and expanded into a more groove-orientated post-punk/art-punk territory – a place where their origins and parts Talking Heads, Television, LCD Soundsystem and Gang of Four can all coexist and flourish. In short, Silverbacks are one of the finest bands to emerge from these shores in recent times and in my humble opinion, one of Ireland’s best kept secrets.

Fresh from Other Voices Silverbacks headline Whelans Upstairs, Dublin this Saturday (December 8) and having seen them play numerous times over the past 12 months, it will be a belter!

Tune into ‘Just In The Band’ below:

Silverbacks – ‘Dunkirk’

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Silverbacks have delighted and excited at every turn thus far and the Dublin-based outfit are back with their strongest showing to date, ‘Dunkirk’.

Produced by Girl Band’s Daniel Fox, ‘Dunkirk’ was released on June 15 through their own PK Miami Records. ‘Dunkirk’ is a sprawling three-minute post-punk underpinned by an insistent, nagging bassline and increasingly manic, winding guitar lines, metronomic drumbeat and Gang of Four caliber bass lines. It is the ideal backdrop for Daniel O’Kelly’s stream of conscious musings of a dystopian future where Dunkirk, despite its history, has become a built-up holiday destination for young families. ‘Dunkirk’ is the latest in a string of top class releases that signals strongest their evolution beyond their early Pavement-esque beginnings, to a coveted plain where parts Talking Heads, Television, LCD Soundsystem and Gang of Four can all coexist and flourish.

As pointed out in the intro, ‘Dunkirk’ is their strongest showing to date, tune in below.

Incoming: A Quick Chat With Silverbacks

 

Ireland's best 5-aside football team

Ireland’s best 5-aside football team

Silverbacks will be bringing their show to BRÚ House, Newbridge on Friday, December 1 – coinciding with the release of their latest single ‘Just for a Better View’.

This is the second in a series of collaborative shows between Broken Home & I, as we aim to bring some of our favourite musicians and artist to Newbridge – of which Silverbacks fits the bill for both of us.

Silverbacks have already eked out a solid rep for themselves when it comes to whipping up lashings of ’90s inspired lo-fi fuzz, a string of top class releases has ensured that.

Their slanted ’90s Pavement inspired sounds mix it up with the post-punk tones of Television and a touch of Talking Heads. Much like a Spring day, tunes like ‘Techno Dogs’, ‘Dirty Money’ and latest single ‘Just for a Better View’ are simultaneously gloomy and sun-kissed – in  LCD-meets-The Strokes kind of a way. I digress. The long and the short of it is that Silverbacks are one of the finest bands operating on these shores and in my humble opinion, one of Ireland’s best kept secrets.

Silverbacks join Oh Boland and Luke Redmond in BRÚ House, Newbridge this Friday, December 1, for what is a rather formidable lineup – Doors @ 9pm | Tickets €5/€7.

Ahead of the weekend’s show I caught up with Dan from Silverbacks, to shoot the shit.

Tell us a little bit about Silverbacks. How did it come about? And what is the essence/inspiration behind it?

Silverbacks started off as just Kilian and myself. We’ve been writing and recording demos for years and the end goal was always to eventually form a band and play them live.

Emma is on bass and has been playing with us for about four years now.

Last year Gary joined us on drums and Peadar on a guitar. This is the best live band we’ve had and as a result we’ve recently decided to take things a little more seriously.

In your opinion, what are the greatest challenges as an upcoming band in Ireland?

One obstacle is definitely that Ireland is an island. It makes playing gigs abroad trickier and more expensive, especially when you’re doing things yourself. It’d be nice if there were residencies for bands too.

Has growing up in Belgium had much influence on your musical output?

I don’t think so, well not yet anyway. Most of our influences are mainly American bands for the moment. But that could always change. In terms of the influence on my taste, I do have a soft spot for Jacques Brel and Kilian learned a good few Django Reinhardt chords and solos growing up.

One of my favourite songs is actually by a Belgian band called Deus, they were at their prime in the 90s. The song is called ‘Instant Street’ and my dad put it on a compilation tape for the car years ago . There’s a moment where Tom Barman (the singer) says the word ‘motherfucking’ and anytime my mother heard it she’d give out about the unnecessary rude language. My Dad would agree. Silverbacks have yet to use language that is deemed explicit in our songs so maybe there’s one obscure Belgian influence from my childhood.

What can we expect from a Silverbacks show?

Four friendly faces and Peadar.

Can you you tell us a bit about the Silverbacks artwork, and the artist involved?

It’s done by a good friend of ours who was in the same class as Kilian growing up and lived just down the road. He’s done all the artwork for Silverbacks over the last few years. We’re big fans of his work and we all feel the artwork he does for the band is a big part of Silverbacks.

You can check out his stuff here.

What are you listening to at the moment?

At this very moment I’m listening to the ‘Worst Case Scenario’ album by Deus.

One of my favourite bands currently is Happyness. I saw them play Whelans earlier this year and they were excellent. I’ve been revisiting some of the Sparklehorse albums too.

What are your plans for the rest of 2017 and 2018? Can we expect a new record soon?

We recently digitally released ‘Just for A Better View’. That’s the first song we didn’t record or mix ourselves. Stephen from Lamplight Studios had us around and we’re really happy with the results. We plan to record one more song at Lamplight before the end of the year.

For 2018 we’re hoping to start playing shows on a more regular basis. An album would be nice too but who knows, we’re currently sitting on a lot of demos.

And lastly, in all the interviews you’ve done is there anything you’re eager to chat about but no one ever asks you?

Not really Barry, we probably haven’t done enough interviews.

Silverbacks Ready New EP; Share ‘Dirty Money

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Lo-fi indie noise-merchants Silverbacks have returned, brandishing a new single ‘Dirty Money’; the first track to be lifted from their forthcoming EP Sink The Fat Moon.

The Dublin-based quintet will release the new EP on May 19 and judging by the new single, we’re in for a treat. Silverbacks have already eked out a solid rep for themselves when it comes to whipping up lashings of ’90s inspired lo-fi fuzz. Another self-produced effort, it a brusque, harmonic three-minutes of masterful indie noise. It slips from languid meanderings to brash, searingly loud riffage with an effortless ease; and swagger to boot. A marvelous & confident return from Silverbacks (with their re-jigged line-up) and it is one of their finest offerings to date. Quite a claim given their propensity to proliferate superb singles.

Listen to ‘Dirty Money’ below – you’ll be hooked before you know it!

Sink The Fat Moon is out via Miami Records on May 19, pre-order here.

Silverbacks support Sea Pinks in the Roisin Dubh, Galway on May 25 & play Whelan’s Upstairs, on May 27 (launching the new EP).

Why not get acquainted with Silverbacks’ most recent album, ‘Hot Bath’, released in 2015, it’s ace! You can get that for free from Bandcamp.

Millions Like Us Podcast – Episode #14

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We’re thrilled to share yet another Millions Like Us Podcast with you all. It’s fantastic to back with the latest in a series of music podcasts hosted by Justin & I, in conjunction with Vancouver news & culture site 604now.

Every two weeks we aim to serve some lively and entertaining chat mixed with an eclectic selection of fabulous music from metro Vancouver and elsewhere. There’s plenty in there, well over an hour in fact, of great tunes and plenty of chat.

You can read more on it over here and of course, listen below (and the tracklist (with links) is after the jump too). You can subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic, Mixcloud & SoundCloud, or find us on Facebook & Twitter. Or you can email us at millionslikeuspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

Thanks for all the support and once again, thanks for listening! We hope you enjoy Episode #14. And last but not least, thanks to Caroline for the super image.

Podcast #14 Tracklist:

 

Silverbacks – ‘Techno Dogs’

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Dublin based indie/garage outfit Silverbacks have returned with a new single ‘Techno Dogs’, the first track to be lifted from their forthcoming EP ‘No Duds Club’.

Silverbacks have made a solid rep for themselves when it comes to whipping up lashings of ’90s inspired lo-fi fuzz. ‘Techno Dogs’ does little to dispel this notion, as they continue along a similar path furrow; however their the slanted ’90s Pavement inspired sounds mix it up with the post-punk tones of Television and a touch of Talking Heads. Much like a Spring day, ‘Techno Dogs’ is simultaneously gloomy and sun-kissed. You know the sort of thing LCD Soundsystem always manage to do so well, yeah, just like that. O’Kelly’s low-toned and world weary vocals, bring a forlorn sense of being to a generally upbeat backdrop of chugging hazy bass-lines and rolling guitar riffs. This is a triumphant & confident return for the band, and easily one of their best tracks to date, and that’s saying something, given the ease with which they appear to be able to proliferate splendid singles.

You can check out new single ‘Techno Dogs’ now. And while we wait for the new EP, why not get acquainted with Silverbacks’ most recent album, ‘Hot Bath’, released last year, it is superb! You can get that for free from Bandcamp.

BarryGruff Playlist August 2015

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A now regular monthly feature, whereby we round up all the blog action with a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured during the month.

August was pretty damn good! We had new tunes from Anderson, The Foetals, The Annulments and DRINKS ahead of their respective, forthcoming new albums. There were excellent new singles from SALES, Cornershop, Imploded View, Foreign/National and Silverbacks, and EPs from Mr Huw & Dog Legs. Oh, and Johnny Feeney shared his albums of the year so far too.

Also featured on this month’s playlist are great tracks from Martha Ffion, Sh-Shakes, SQRD, BUCK, and Ghost Culture’s, Ghostpoet remix . So, August, pretty good alright.

Listen to BarryGruff’s August 2015 playlist below.