The Butterfly Explosion
Having already notched up considerable airplay from Ireland (2FM) to California (Nic Harcourt’s Morning Becomes Electric show on KCRW), The Butterfly Explosion are no newcomers to ‘next big thing’ status.
The five-piece of Gazz Carr (vocals, guitar), John Canavan (guitar), Peter Savage (drums), Sorcha Brennan (keyboards, vocals) and Danny Conway (bass) formed in late 2004, releasing their debut Vision EP in spring of the following year.
2006 saw the quintet solidify their reputation, with an appearance at the South By South West festival in Texas, quickly followed by XFM London’s Unsigned competition and the IMRO ‘Best Of’ Tour showcase in June 2006. Last September saw the release of their Turn The Sky mini-album, which quickly gathered up considerable airplay on Phantom FM, 2FM, Today FM (Pet Sounds ‘Rising Artist of the Week’) and indeed on XFM Scotland. The band have garnered sterling press reviews in the likes of Mojo, Metro, and this very organ, which described their “sugar-sweet melodies peeking through a blizzard of guitar noise" as “irresistible" and were chosen for the Tisch hotpress video treatment.
Hear them: The band say they’re taking a “perfectionist" approach to recording their debut album, which is due out late summer. You can download tracks from their Turn The Sky EP at www.butterflyexplosion.com.
See them: They play at Gugai’s Strangebrew night at Roisin Dubh in Galway on February 22.
The Gorgeous Colours
With their debut single ‘Burning’ described by Hot Press’ Shilpa Ganatra as “genius summed up in four and a half minutes," The Gorgeous Colours hit the Irish scene last year.
Formed by college friends, guitarist Neil Smyth and frontman Geoffrey McArdle, and augmented by Aussie bassist Tim Groenland and French drummer Glen L’heveder, The Gorgeous Colours blend the best bits of Neil Young, Spinto Band and The Violent Femmes into a thoroughly adorable whole that’s still recognisably their own, nowhere moreso than on the genre-defying ‘Hunting Song’.
Having ben selected by Hot Press to play the Castlepalooza Festival in summer 2006, The Gorgeous Colours then released ‘Burning’ to rapturous praise, and even ended up playing a gig in a fan’s living room – everyone who downloaded the song from their website (www.thegorgeouscolours.com) was entered into a draw for this unique prize. Expect to hear a lot more.
Hear them: ‘Hunting Something’ is the next single the band will release, and it’s due out in the spring, with an EP to follow later in the year.
See them: The band play The Cellar in Galway on February 23, supporting the Cheerfuls.
Hooray For Humans
Fusing synthesisers with guitars, beats and the human voice is nothing new, but Corkonians Hooray For Humans manage to do it in a manner that sounds fresh, their influences ranging from My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth to The Notwist and Kraftwerk. Indeed, tracks like the wonderful ‘Signature’ manage to sound like the otherworldly beauty of Arcade Fire crossed with the raw energy of The Stooges.
The band were formed by Alan Healy (vocals, guitar), who had spent four years playing with “technical metal" outfit My Remorse, and was soon joined by vocalist/keyboardist Áine Mangaoang and drummer/keyboardist/programmer Darragh Enright. Shortly afterwards Darragh departed for a five month sojourn in Mexico (but is back this February) and with the addition of drummer Wayne Dunlea and bassist Dave Ahern (who both played with Waiting Room), the five-piece are ready for serious action in 2007.
Despite only playing six gigs to date, they were voted Best New Cork Band in the Cork Independent 2006 Reader’s Poll. Next summer they’ll record their debut full-length album, and an extensive Irish tour is being organised for February/March.

Hear them: Download two of their demo tracks on myspace.com/hoorayforhumans
See them: The band kickstart a national tour in February, with dates still to be confirmed.

Angel Pier
Angel Pier began life thanks to a chance meeting in Whelan’s of Wexford Street, Dublin, in January 2006, when Darragh (vocals, guitar), Paul (bass) and Mark (drums) were introduced by a mutual friend.
The trio began working on their sound, taking their blueprint from The Stone Roses and The Cure, and soon added Canadian guitarist Luke, whose classic blues-rock axework complemented the solid foundations, adding some discordant guitar noise to complement Darragh’s soaring, testicle-shrivelling falsetto.
Angel Pier’s first proper studio foray was with Kieran Lynch, whose previous credits include U2, Hal and Elvis Costello, and who ensured that the resulting Bullet Holes And Broken Sectors EP captured their sound effectively.

Hear them: The Bullet Holes And Broken Sectors EP is released on January 11, and is available through Tower Records, Road Records, Plug’d Records and online at myspace.com/angelpier.
See them: Angel Pier play the Ballroom of Romance on February 28, in the Lower Deck in Portobello.
Queen Kong
Queen Kong’s Hollywood-esque promo for their CD, The Leech caused quite a stir on internet forumns (see www.freakscene.com/queenkong.htm for the full effect).
“We very consciously set out to create the impression, if only in our own heads and on a very small scale, that our CD coming out will be similar to a major film being released," explains synth player David Jeremiah.
The Cork quintet spent the best part of a year working on The Leech, an entirely self-financed release that daringly includes every track they have ever written but only costs the same price as an EP. Described by London-born Ruby Moore as “a continuation of my personal rejection of the 9-5 society, a departure from the rat-race," The Leech represents a revolutionary as well as artistic statement from the band who have recently relocated to Dublin.
Already garnering attention for their rousing live performances, with songs about everything from first dates to Samuel Beckett, 2007 will see Queen Kong continue their quest to ensure that Ireland remains a safe haven for truly independent music.

Hear them: The band have just released a live CD, available through myspace.com/qk, where you can also listen to other tracks.
See them: On January 28, they play a masked ball in Kennedy’s in Cork, alongside Warlords Of Pez.

Cashier No. 9
Danny Todd, the brains behind Northerners Cashier No. 9 began his musical journey with a cheap sequencer package, a broken acoustic guitar and a love of Nick Drake and The Beta Band.
Featuring members of Belfast punks Corrigan and techno lunatics Alloy Mental, Cashier No. 9 have been around for just over two years, existing for the most part as a loose project of low key gigs and self-funded demo releases.
Their chilled out combination of electronica and folk has been striking chords with a growing fanbase, however (including hotpress’ own Colin Carberry, who singled them out as ones to watch for next year). With a sound that has been likened to a chilled out Postal Service, Cashier No. 9 were recently selected by BBC Northern Ireland’s Across The Line programme for their Next Stage event.

Hear them: The band have a selection of tracks on their MySpace page, including ‘Jump The Queue’ and ‘Face Don’t Fit’.
See them: On February 6, Cashier No. 9 play a headline gig at The Attic in Auntie Annie’s in Belfast.

Story Of Hair
Story Of Hair are made up of two girls, Amanda and Caroline (both guitarists), from Dublin and Tipperary respectively, along with Ger (drums) and Paul (bass), both from Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
The girls met at art college, while their male rhythm section had played with each other for a number of years, before hooking up with the band’s female contingent. According to Amanda, “Story Of Hair make noise rockin’, algebra-solving, mainly instrumental pop music...and once rescued a small child from down a well using only sellotaped drum sticks."

Hear them: Demos of their debut album, due in the summer, can be heard at www.storyofhair.com
See them: Story Of Hair support Stagger Lee and The Reveillons on January 12 in the Temple Bar Music Centre.

Rivals
For a band who only released their debut single a mere seven months ago, Rivals have already achieved more than many acts can in their entire career. The four-piece of Damien Trainor (guitar, vocals), David McGarry (bass), Peter O’Hare (drums) and David Dickinson (guitar) unleashed their debut single, ‘Collide’ in May 2006, quickly chalking up airplay across the pond on XFM, Virgin Radio, BBC 6 Music and, perhaps most importantly on Zane Lowe’s hugely influential Radio 1 show.
Support slots with The Strokes and Fightstar followed, as well as an appearance at London’s Wireless festival. Picking up sterling reviews in Rocksound (“bloody fantastic") and Alternative Ulster (“strident and irresistable"), the quartet are surely set for further successes in 2007.

Hear them: The band start recording their debut album within a few weeks, with tracks available for download on myspace.com/rivalsrock.
See them: Rivals have had to cancel their planned live gigs for the next few months due to the album recording, but plan to announce some dates soon.

The Brilliant Things
It may be an artistic marriage made in heaven. Greg Ffrench was working as a coffee maker in Westland Studios during the recording of the last Corrs album. “One day I came in and I heard this extraordinary piano playing and I thought it was the piano tuner going a bit mad," Corrs manager John Hughes recounts, “and it turned out to be Greg. This guy is really talented."
The 24 year old from Wexford is, as it happens, also a great singer. A support slot with Hughes protege Tara Blaise, on her first major Irish tour followed. Now, however, Ffrench’s solo incarnation is set to take a back seat, as Greg lines up alongside Marie Hughes in The Brilliant Things, a boy-girl duo who are likely to produce one of the most sparkling, quirky, radio friendly albums of 2007, on the basis of what we’ve heard to date. Their debut album Stronger Than Romeo – much of it recorded in LA with Olle Romo – is set for release in the spring.
Take it that the name is a statement of intent and watch them go...
Hear them: Stay tuned for the duo’s first single next month.
See them: Hopes are high for some live dates later in the year.

Urban Intelligence
Ballymun quartet Urban Intelligence have played numerous gigs around the country since 2003. The collective, known individually as DJ Moschips, Teknical, Lunatic and 4 Real, realised a dream when they got to support hip hop legend Snoop Dogg in the Point in 2006 (following Snoop’s appearance at Tower Records, where one of the band worked), and quickly followed this up by doing the same for Nas when he visited these shores.
Having released a slew of independent EPs, including their eponymous debut and their Homemade Bombs hip hop mixtape, Urban Intelligence recently collaborated with Damien Dempsey, on a reworking of the Donaghmede man’s track, ‘Patience’, and were the subject of an RTÉ Radio One documentary, Behind The Mic, exploring their formative years in Ballymun, which still form the basis of much of their lyrical content.

Hear them: The Ballymun rappers will shortly release a remix of Damien Dempsey’s ‘Patience’, and have several tracks available for download on workingclassrecords.com
See them: Urban Intelligence are currently planning nationwide shows.

Straglers (ABove)
Straglers’ brilliant ‘Babyjane’ will be instantly familiar to any Phantom 105.2 listeners, as the track has been on heavy rotation on the Dublin alternative station for the last couple of months, and was a regular on the station’s Top Ten for weeks on end.
A Dublin three-piece who fuse indie rock ‘n’ roll with dance-floor friendly beats, Straglers have already garnered praise from the likes of Sarah Darling, XFM London (“very strong") and this very organ (“the next Irish act to hit paydirt"). Their debut EP, Mister Medic (which features the aforementioned ‘Babyjane’) was released in mid-2006. Chosen from out of 24,000 entries to appear at the massively influential In The City festival in Manchester, Straglers are currently working on the follow-up to Mister Medic which is already being awaited with baited breath.

Hear them: The band are finishing off an EP due for release in late February, with the working title The Kids Are Deranged. Tracks can be downloaded at cpu.ie/straglers.
See them: Once work is finished on the EP, Straglers will be playing gigs nationwide.

Glenwash
Glenwash could be the first band to put Longford on the musical map. The wonderfully named quartet of Bruce Pebbledash (vocals, guitar), Pic Steeplechase (vocals, bass), Notes Welder (guitar) and Steel Banyster (drums) had known each other for decades but it wasn’t until early 2006 that they really came together as a band, and were awarded HP ‘Single of the Fortnight’ status for their debut release, the Bottle Of Cop EP in February ’06.

Hear them: The band have four tracks available for download on myspace.com/glenwash, and are planning an EP release for February.
See them: The band are in the final stages of planning nationwide gigs to promote their EP.
Garrett O'Hare
Work is at an advanced stage on the debut album by the young Northern Ireland hopeful Garrett O’Hare.
From Rostrevor in County Down, O’Hare has already spent two weeks working in Westmeath’s Grouse Lodge studio. At the age of 18, he has a musical maturity that’s remarkable.
“He’s got great songs and he’s a really gifted singer, as well as being a very thoughtful guy," Barry Gaster tells Hot Press. “I think he’s going to take a lot of people by surprise."

Hear him: Garrett’s debut album will hopefully see the light of day in 2007
See him: Watch this space for tour details.
Shelley
25-year-old Shelley hopes to be our next global pop/r’n’b superstar. A runner-up in Pop Stars and a favourite of Simon Cowell, she turned down the chance to join Louis Walsh’s Hearsay to concentrate on a solo career. However, just when things seemed to be taking off, she was smashed back to earth with a wallop, when she was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma.
She spent the next 18 months receiving treatment but once her health improved, Shelley got straight back to writing and recording her debut album. A professional choreographer and belly dancer, she’s been one of Ireland’s top models for years (and a Miss Ireland runner-up), but – deals with Religion Music and with Madonna’s former manager under her belt – it’s music that has taken precedence in her life.

Hear her: Shelley’s 2006 single Hit It is available on iTunes, or can be heard on myspace.com/shelleyreligionmusic
See her: Shelley is in LA recording her debut album, with live dates to be announced once that’s completed.
Jenna is from Killiney in Dublin. She first came to the attention of industry players at the tender age of 14, when a tape reflecting a precocious talent, with the voice of an angel and songs to match, began to circulate. But wiser counsel prevailed when she was advised to get her Leaving Cert under her belt before attempting to make a name for herself. That done, she’s been signed to a management deal by long-time mentor Barry Gaster.
Jenna’s bright personality and sex appeal suggest that the platform necessary for success may be established from the outset. However, with piano-based songs of genuine depth that have been compared to Tori Amos and Jewel, Ms. Whelan is also one for the long haul.

Hear her: Jenna is expected to start work on her debut album in the near future.
See her: Following the completion of her album, Jenna will turn her attention to live performance.