Hot for 09: The Irish Bands

Not Squares
Refugees from a selection of other northern beat combos, Not Squares first convened in order to become Belfast’s premiere “party band”. “It came out of drunken pub conversation, as most of these things do,” says bass-player Ricky. “And after that drunken conversation, every time we met up someone would say, ‘When’s the party band going to start?’ So about a year ago to the day we got together in this old Mill where band’s practice, with whatever instruments we wanted and started playing and realised we could actually be a proper band. That’s how we ended up with two bass players. It also just so happens that the last three shows we’ve played have been parties.”
Of course, they might be nailing the partying on the head in ‘09 in order to record an album. “We released some little cassettes and got another band to do remixes and even did a collaborative show with another band called What What,” Ricki resumes. “But we’re going to try recording a proper record this year.”
Because this is important, goddamnit. “Yeah we’re not just a party band. This has turned into something more ideological as it’s gone along. It’s not just about dancing. It’s about dancing with people.”
HEAR THEM: www.myspace.com/notsquares
SEE THEM: Soon. (Their drummer has temporarily absconded to the Middle East with an art project.)

Heathers
A dueting pair of twin sisters with one guitar and a propensity for singing face to face at house parties, in 2008 Louise and Ellie toured America with Ghostmice and released a record of folky, DIY brilliance called Here Not There on Hide Away Records (think a less gentle Simon and Garfunkel with no Y chromosomes). And what can we expect in 2009? “Well, we’re starting to write new stuff for a new record,” says Ellie. “But we’ve only done a few songs so far. And we’re going to go on tour with Ghostmice again. The last time we toured the West Coast and the Mid-West. This time it’s the East Coast from Maine to Florida. The last tour was just amazing – all travelling together in a little mini-van around America. It was great. We caught the touring bug, I think.”
And can we expect anything different from any records 2009 brings? “We’re thinking of adding drums to some songs... but otherwise no big changes... yet!”
HEAR THEM: On www.myspace.com/heatherswhatsyourdamage
SEE THEM: Supporting Arcadia in Eamon Doran’s towards the end of February

Yngvie Wieland
A man born in Germany, raised in Sligo, based in London and playing Americana. So far, so culturally complex. But Yngvie Wieland plays beautifully arranged and jauntily melodic bluesy, folky country music with lovely harmonies and plenty of stray wind instruments and sliding guitars. “I started off playing blues finger-picking influenced by old American acts like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Robert Johnson,” says Yngvie. “My dad used to play drums in a blues band when I was growing up, so there was always that genre of music around. That led into loads of open tunings. Then when I started with a band I loved harmonies and vocals and duet vocals.”
He’s also benefitted from a fluid musical community here and abroad. “None of the musicians I played with on the album I play with now, so the band is more of a collective, really. It’s always been filled out by musicians who are in other bands playing whenver they’re available.” In 2008 he released his Tell Men This album and he’s gearing up to record again this month.
HEAR HIM: www.myspace.com/yngve
SEE HIM: Every Thursday in January in The George Tavern in London

Panama Kings
Panama Kings is the sound of four young fellows choosing to escape the musical rat-race with vaguely carnivalesque, organ-filled post-punk.
“We were all in bands which broke up around the same time,” explains singing guitarist Niall. “And we were all tired of chasing a record deal and the pressure that comes with that. We wanted to do something relaxed and fun so the first practice we all brought in the music we liked and played it for one another... and stuff like Wolf Parade, Gang Of Four and Arcade Fire we all agreed on. And those are the things that ended up influencing our sound. The big thing we wanted to get away from was that we’d been in bands in the past who’d said things like, ‘We’ll give ourselves a year and if we’re not signed we’ll split up,’ and that’s a really, really bad way to try and write good songs. It’s too much pressure.”
In 2009 the quartet will be releasing their already recorded third single ‘Gold Recruit’, recorded with DJ and producer Alex Metric as soon as they find a label. “And then we’ll record an album,” promises Niall.
HEAR THEM: www.myspace.com/panamakings
SEE THEM: February 19 at Radar @ The Speakeasy in Queens University Belfast

Cutaways
Like many bands, Belfast’s Cutaways emerged from the wreckage of a more conventional outfit. When guitarist Paul and drummer Ryan lost their bass and keyboard players to the rigours of bandmanship and modern life, they recruited singing synth player Grace and chose to soldier on bass-less. The results are a kind of happy hardcore mish-mash of punk and pop, which on occasion sounds like early Chumbawumba (that’s a good thing, seriously).
“Before Grace joined what we did was a bit more straightforward,” Paul admits. “It was pop-rock stuff, a bit like Weezer, but since then we’ve gone a bit more left of centre, and I suppose what we do now is closer to bands like Of Montreal and Pavement.”
And with this new identity, Cutaways released their first EP START STOP! START STOP! in October 2008. They’re currently gearing up to record a further six tracks in the coming months. “We’ll either release it as an EP or put it together with the first EP to make an album,” says Paul with devil-may-care nonchalance. “We haven’t decided yet.”
HEAR THEM: www.myspace.com/cutaways
SEE THEM: On January 15 at The Limelight in Belfast with Panda Kopanda

Halves
Halves play beautiful, string-filled, synthy, guitary post-rock music with eerie, plaintive tenor vocals, and released an album and EP worth of the stuff in 2008. They also played the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen, supported the likes of Bell X1 and Cathy Davey, as well as touring the country all on their lonesome. And they’re already planning the next record, the bastards. “I don’t think things will change in any major way,” says bass and string player Dave Scanlon. “But we’ve learned a lot. Every single one of us has stuff from the last record that we wish had been done differently. So I don’t think the new record will be like U2 discovering a dance element in their music or anything... and there won’t be any surprise reggae interludes, but we will try to do what we do better.”
The band will also be releasing a split seven-inch with Subplot in March, playing at the Community Music Week in Toronto and making their televisual debut on Other Voices. That already looks like a pretty busy year. “It’ll be good,” says Dave enthusiastically.
HEAR THEM: www.myspace.com/ahomeforhalves
SEE THEM: On Other Voices in February!

The Black Bear Saloon
The Black Bear Saloon are veterans of iconic Northern hardcore bands Throat, Element and From Where I Stand, and know how to structure songs which are more than the sum of their riffs. While it all falls pleasantly between Clutch and the Afghan Whigs to these ears, the line-up took a while to settle down.
“We started about a year ago when I got a phone call from the guys,” explains Aaron. “Unbeknownst to me they’d been practicing for about 18 months beforehand, auditioning singers, but not getting anywhere. They’d even auditioned me at one point and turned me down!”
They haven’t spent all their time locked away in a rehearsal room, though.
“Our drummer just had a baby,” Aaron laughs. “But we’ve finished a four-track EP and the songs are up on MySpace at the moment. We have to navigate the vagaries of the industry a bit. We need to figure out if we go for digital downloads and that sort of thing. But I reckon it’ll be released properly by Easter.”
HEAR THEM: www.myspace.com/theblackbearsaloon
SEE THEM: Valentine’s Night in the Attic in Belfast

General Fiasco
General Fiasco are a three-piece emo guitar-rock phantasmagoria from Belfast who seem to be touring the arse out of England at the moment. Thus far, they’ve released one jagged slab of guitar-based popular music in the shape of the internet-only ‘Rebel Get By’, but their first piece of “product” (a single produced from physical matter), ‘Something Sometime’, will hit the racks in February.
They certainly have the work ethic. Indeed, we haven’t seen this level of toilet-tour mining since Thatcher closed the pits. They’re also playing the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen this month followed by Midem in Cannes soon after, so expect to see them contractually imprisoned by a faceless corporation at some point this year (after which they will slowly be milked of promise and left to die in a rock-star graveyard ‘scene-pub’ where they’ll regale us all with tales of their admittedly worthy glory days).
HEAR THEM: www.myspace.com/generalfiasco
SEE THEM: If you happen to be in The Netherlands on January 16, check them out at the brilliant Eurosonic festival. Otherwise see their MySpace for a ridiculously comprehensive touring schedule.

Katie Kim
The Canadian-born, Irish-based former Dae Kim singer produced a kicking album ‘Twelve’ in 2008. The recordings were all lovely and scratchy and scrapey (kind of like her voice); the arrangements were a delicate mix of gentle electronica, slide guitar, piano and acoustic guitar picking; and the songs were so mellow they were practically leaning backwards over the couch with their feet in the air, while a bunch of early 90s shoegazing recordings from the 4AD label stood around feeling assertive, aggressive and ugly by comparison. So that’s what Katie did in 2008, but what’s Katie going to do next? I’ll tell you in a year.
HEAR HER: www.myspace.com/dancekatiekimdance