Hot Press Ignition: The Final

It’s the battle of the unsigned. Five winners from individual Ignition gigs are tonight going for gold on the TBMC stage in an attempt to blag the €2,000 recording time that’ll be awarded to the winner.

First up tonight are Milque, whose heavy guitars and noodly solos are sadly lost to a nervous vocal. Their lack of onstage charisma and confidence made the aggression in the lyrics a little unconvincing.

Dutch Uncle, the second band of the night, would benefit much from realising that too many guitarists can easily spoil the broth, especially when one of them is out of tune. While rhythmically strong and coherent, the good moments of melancholia and haunting guitaristry are drowned out by the aforementioned tuning problem and unaided by messy melody lines.

Despite being away in Oasis-tribute-band land for the majority of their set, The Affirmed’s show is appropriately lively, which is probably down to the fact that they’re pissed. (Lads: there’s a distinct line between Dutch courage and getting arseholed.) Still, this is the first band on the stage that have actually engaged the audience with any form of crowd interaction. Musically they’re a little bland and generic, but at least they look like they’re having a good time.

Desh upped the ante considerably. The frontman looks remarkably at home on stage, and impresses the judges with an actual singing ability – something this competition has thus far lacked. Desh clearly love what they’re doing: they ooze enthusiasm, passion, fury and attitude, with diversity and good melodic structure to spare. Very promising.

The last act, God Talkin’ Soul, are very tight and energetic, qualities that greatly enhance their sound – a melange of melodic power pop and emo played with real conviction. Dynamics were a welcome bonus, as was a bit of lyrical humour (“You break my heart, I’ll break your legs”). Which is why they came out on top… Congrats!