Album Review: Just Mustard, We Were Just Here

Dundalk quintet Just Mustard are a throwback to the golden age of shoegaze, when guitars were distorted, vocals were floaty, and the word “ethereal” was all the rage in reviews.

Taking their cues from the likes of Lush, Slowdive and, of course, My Bloody Valentine, the Dundalk five-piece of Katie Ball, David Noonan, Mete Kalyoncuolu, Rob Clarke and Shane Maguire create quite the sonic maelstrom, brimming over with crashing guitars, martial rhythms and, above it all, Ball’s pixie vocals.

Her voice is generally higher in the mix this time around, particularly on the likes of the stately, Cocteau Twins-style ‘Dreamer’; the hypnotic ‘Dandelion’; and the title track, where she insists “I just want to make it feel good”.

However, her voice is subsumed by the mid-paced wall of noise on ‘Somewhere’, and slightly lost amid the percussive cacophony of ‘That I Might Not See’.

Still, there’s a sense of immediacy – often missing in shoegaze – on the aural assault of ‘Pollyanna’, and the giddy rush of ‘Silver’, with the boy/girl vocals on the latter adding depth. The boys also join in on the closing ‘Out Of Heaven’, an unsettling aural trip with weird bursts of noise.

Now, where did I leave my oversized geansaí and 16-hole Docs?

8/10