Once every four years a mania descends that splits the globe in two, those whose lives will be dictated by the World Cup for the next month and those who couldn’t give a flying fuck.
The sensible people in the latter category may wish to cocoon themselves away in the wonderful world of album-listening and gig-going and so follows a round-up of events to distract you from the deluge of footy screenings and match-related inane chit-chat that is almost unavoidable.
First up on the live front is the second Psycho Fest in the Voodoo Lounge, Dublin on June 24. The impressive line-up includes Humanzi, The Immediate, The Things, Mainline, The Mighty Stef, Stagger Lee and Metro Riots from the UK and many more. The evening is billed as having a “50s Monster Mash theme” so approach with caution.
Recent King Kong Club victors Doctor Smith play a headline show in the Temple Bar Music Centre on June 19. For a taster go to www.myspace.com/doctorsmithband
Meanwhile in the sunny South East, the second Cherish Records South East Rocks compilation was launched recently.
This year’s offering is a two-disc set with 22 tracks by a variety of artists from around the country, including Fire Garden, Darren Byrne and My Corduroy. The CD was recorded between Feburary and April in Reverb Studios in Wexford. As with last year the collection runs the gamut of musical styles and should have something to suit all tastes. There will be live dates in support of the release so don’t forget to check hotpress.com for details.
In Northern news…multi-instrumentalist Ricky Graham’s first EP of 2006 entitled Refraction, is available online from the following websites:
www.rickygraham.net
www.mearecords.net
www.msoundz.com
to listen - www.myspace.com/rickygraham
Catch’s new EP Fisticuffs is available for free on the interweb also. Check out the trio’s unique brand of groovy rock recorded in Manor Park in March at www.catchmusic.co.uk.
Creative activities continue apace in the People’s Republic where rock five-piece Subsonic have just released a new four-track EP A Call To Riot. The band, comprising of Brian O’Connell on vocals, Dave Aitken on guitars/vocals, Allan Butler on guitars, Ben Donnelly on bass and Ciaràn Finn on drums have been together for a year and a half and regularly pack out such salubrious venues as An Cruiscin Lan and The Pine Lodge!
Interested parties should proceed post haste to www.myspace.com/Subsonicspace or www.subsonic-live.com
The Communal camp has been a busy one of late, the track ‘Relent’ from the current album Passport featured in the film Take It Back, which won an award at the Brooklyn Film Festival and was also nominated for an IFTA Award. The same track was chosen for the soundtrack to the Kayaking Extreme Sports Video.
And finally some new material from an old band with a new name …The Adventures (formerly Pedestrian) release the single 'Don’t Tell Your Friends' on June 16. Having emerged as overall winners of the Brave New Stage Competition in April 2005 under their previous moniker the band went on to release the highly acclaimed debut single “Help Yourself” later that year. A fine tuning of the line-up and name change kick started 2006 and now they are ready to take on the nation. Catch them live in Crawdaddy on June 15, Tower Records on June 17 at 3pm, Spirit, Dublin on June 22 opening for Cowboy X and an appearance in Charleville Castle on June 24.