Westmeath has proved to be a particularly fertile spot recently, not only due to the counterfeit condoms discovered by the Irish Medicines Board in Mullingar but also the creative talent of two of the county’s finest, The Blizzards and Mark White. The Blizzards have just launched their debut single ‘First Girl To Leave Town’ (unplanned pregnancy perhaps?) and it was well worth the wait. Promo duties have included a Tower instore as well as appearances on ‘The Café’ and POP4. Recorded in Glasgow, the single was produced by Belle And Sebastian collaborator Ronan Breslin at Mogwai’s studio of choice – Ca Va Sound Workshops. (See review in singles.)
Athlone-based singer-songwriter Mark White is set to release his debut single “Running Out Of Time’ in the next few weeks. Mark played lead guitar with Common Thread, Blue Boots and What’s The Story Mark before going solo in 2003. The song will be included on the debut album due out later this year. Will keep you posted…
In other album news Blood Or Whiskey launched their new long-player Cashed Out On Culture in Mountjoy Prison recently. Inmates were treated to a tea time party and a live airing of the new record. Later that day the band played the Voodoo Lounge with Enemigos, Delinkwints, The Dubtones and Dead Boys And Girls. The forthcoming single ‘Doors Of Hope’ features ex Pogue Cait O’ Riordan on vocals.
News from the Dead Girls And Boys camp is that following recent appearances with Antiproduct and Angels of Mons the band are in the studio working on an EP which will most likely be released in June or July. Look out for a mini tour over the summer months and a new online home…
Fellow Dubs Me In The Park release their debut single ‘2nd Opinion’ on April 14 in The Sugar Club. The track will be available as a free download for a limited time on their website www.meinthepark.com and at the launch they will be giving away 100 limited edition CDs containing two additional tracks and the video for ‘2nd Opinion’…
In other news from The Pale, The Chakras launch their debut EP Manipura with an instore in Tower Records on April 15 at 1pm, followed later that night with a launch gig in Crawdaddy at 8pm. The EP was recorded in The Factory under the guidance of Leo Pearson. The band have gained a good reputation on the live circuit, having played at the launch of Roadhouse at The Hub, come second in The Burning Man Festival Competition and participated in Hard Working Class Heroes…
Moving to the west now and news has reached us that The Sun Seekers recently launched their Peace And Love EP in Galway. The band features Fintan Donnelly (brother of ex Saw Doctors drummer Johnny Donnelly). Fintan is a veteran of Macnas and Mac Teo shows and has also been on tour with The Saw Doctors in the past. The EP features the considerable talents of ex Bonny Tyler Band, Alex Harvey Band and Saw Doctors keyboard player Tony Lambert on Hammond organ. The Sun Seekers will play a series of dates throughout the country in the coming months.
Other live events to watch out for include The April Blueprint Showcase in the Limelight, Belfast on Thursday April 7. The show features Tracer AMC, live for the first time in 2005. The date will coincide with the release of their new four track EP. The CD features two new songs recorded during the sessions for the forthcoming album and two reworkings of ‘Blue Thread’ from 2004’s Flux and Form. The band will release the second LP later in the year…
Another date for the diary, meanwhile, is April 29 when Bad Penny Records will host a party in Limerick’s Trinity Rooms to celebrate the launch of Richie McCoy’s four track radio release only EP Black On White.

For live updates tune into The Last Splash, Sunday nights 9-11, with Alison Curtis on Today FM
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