A Walk on the Leeside

As the People’s Republic gears up for Live At The Marquee next month there’s plenty of activity locally to keep us entertained before Dave Mustaine & co – Megadeth to the rest of us – kick off the annual slew of top shows!
Boa Morte release their long-awaited second album, The Dial Waltz, on Friday May 21. The sumptuous opus was recorded in an analogue studio on two-inch tape by US producer Daniel Presley of Spain and The Breeders renown. It’s been eight years since we were charmed by debut Soon It Will Come Time To Face The World Outside and in the intervening years the outfit have toured with Teenage Fanclub, Calexico, Howe Gelb and Adrian Crowley. They hit the road in support of the release so check hotpress.com for details…
Fellow Corkonians Exit: Pursued By A Bear have just released new single ‘Pish!’ from forthcoming long-player Steamin And Dreamin: The Grandmaster Cash Story which was produced by Ciaran Bradshaw.
Since their formation in 2006 the band have released two well-received EPs and excellent single “The Wine She Drinks’, which reached number 2 in the Irish download charts…
In other local news,KVX have just unveiled their second EP Dinner, the follow-up to the Nick Seymour-produced debut The Actual EP.
The 10-strong genre-skipping outfit have played with a host of domestic luminaries over their five-year lifetime including Fred, The Chalets, Messiah J and The Expert and Hooray For Humans.
According to their press release, plans for this year include “writing more songs, drinking more tea and taking over the world!”
One act who are inching closer to world domination are recent Indie Week Ireland victors The Whatmans. The band fought off stiff competition to land the title which carries the honour of representing Ireland at the Indie Week Canada 2010 Showcase event in Toronto in October. 
The troupe go into the studio over the coming months to finish work on their next single and complete the recording of their forthcoming album, provisionally titled Our Driver Has No Criminal Record, which is due for November release.
Other summer activities include shooting two videos for the album, one of which will be for the song ‘Solider’ and finalising a 20-minute documentary, arrestingly-titled Who The Fxxk Are The Whatmans?
No flies on these guys! 
Date for the diary news next… The Dublin Rocks Festival takes over the Twisted Pepper for a weekend of top-notch entertainment on May 13, 14 and 15. The star-studded bill features live performances from domestic heroes such as The Hassle Merchants, Lady Doll, Grades Of Shades, Robotnik, Concerto For Constantine, The DC Experiment, The Gandhis and many more. Check hotpress.com for further details…
Dublin’s Supertonic Sound Club have been creating quite a stir of late. The band have just appeared on The View, recorded a five-track session for Mark Lamarr’s God’s Jukebox and performed live on The Tommy And Hector Show. And BBC Sport have expressed an interest in using their music!
The seven-piece outfit play a mix of soul, funk and reggae and take their inspiration from 60s and 70 soundtracks. Will keep you posted on future developments...
Galway’s Emmet Scanlan And What The Good Thought recently played two cracking shows in The Crane Bar, Galway and The Cobblestone in Smithfield before frontman Emmet headed off to Haiti for some good-deed-doing. Over the course of a week the singer and 297 other volunteers completed 60 houses. Congratulations on the excellent work!
Live showcase night Communion launched successfully in Dublin last month and the second event is shaping up to be another cracker! The Last Tycoons, Anthony Furey and the Young Folk, Justin Grounds, Rachel Sermanni and Harrison Cargill are on the bill for Whelan’s on May 16.
The showcase night was born in Notting Hills Arts Centre in London in 2006 and the UK version has featured performances by Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling and many others…
Fans of Dublin-based music poet Elder Roche can catch an intimate live performace in The Odessa Club on May 13 before he heads off on the festival trail. The special guest is Pearse McGloughlin.
His summer schedule already includes performances at the ArtWave Festival, Dublin (May 29 & 30); Flat Lake Festival, Monaghan (June 5); and Cavan Arts Festival (19 to 21). Will keep you posted on further announcements!