Still digging the new breed dept: Having streamed tracks from Hot Press "Contenders 2003" Headgear, The Thrills and Fionn Regan, we pass the proverbial baton to our latest test subjects - both of whom feature on the latest Road Relish split single, No. 12, released last week.

The Chalets have won a legion of devotees since their first gig in May 2002, as well as appearing on several of the country’s more prestigious bills of late, including Wonky 2, The Ballroom of Romance, The Foggy Notions tour with The Last Post, and support slots for The Jimmy Cake, eX-Girl and Jacob Golden & Jeffrey Lewis on the Rough Trade tour. (Phew!) A gloriously alt-pop amalgam, their music is both deceptively simple and infinitely catchy, garnering comparisons to the B-52’s and The Go Go’s which, I daresay, the band themselves would be quite chuffed about.

‘Two Chord Song’, the Chalets' very first release and their contribution to Road Relish No. 12, is available for you to hear by kind permission of 2fm - as it was first recorded as a Session, for broadcast on both the Dave Fanning show and Jay Ahern. It was engineered and produced by Mark McGrath on 14th October of last year, at Studio 8, RTE Radio Centre.

Neosupervital is the alter ego of Settler drummer Tim O'Donovan. His music (it sez here) is rooted in "classic synth sounds, drum machines and his Casio synth guitar (which really has to be seen to be believed): The Human League meets Japan meets Duran Duran". But we think he sounds ever so slightly like a sped-up Brian Eno. This (in case you weren't sure) is an extremely good thing.

Road Relish singles are very loveable records: they're hand-numbered, limited-run, and inevitably arrive wrapped in great record sleeves, and they're a great way to sample new and newish bands for, as the man said, cheap.
If you want to get your hands on one, they're only available from Road Records (Fade Street, Dublin) and from Road's website (roadrecs.com). In the meantime, have a taste, below:

To listen to The Chalets’ ‘Two Chord Song’, click here regular quality high quality

To listen to Neosupervital’s ‘Sherwood’, click here regular quality high quality

To read the recent Hot Press feature on the Road Relish singles, click here.