Humans are animals too

Alan and Áine from Hooray for Humans are excited. Their debut album Safekeeping is about to be released, a short blitz of tour dates has been put together, and most importantly, they’re going to appear on Dustin’s Daily News.

“It’s amazing,” gushes Alan, “I’ll always be able to tell my grandkids that I was on the television with Dustin.”
Hooray for Humans may outwardly project an image of jejune affability, but beneath that exterior there nestles a spiky core. Their debut album is a sugar-coated wrecking ball; a short firecracker of loudhailer pop shout-alongs, bristling with synths, riffs and sass. The release marks a remarkable turnaround for a band that played its first gig only just over a year ago.
“We wanted to hit the ground running and put everything into it over a short period of time,” admits Alan. “It’s not the kind of music that you want to be mulling over for a long time. They’re short, snappy songs that will just go stale if you don’t get them out there.”
The shared vocal duties of Alan and Áine sit at the centre of the Hooray For Humans sound. It’s surprising, then, to hear of the travails that both these novice singers put themselves through when initial band rehearsals began.
“We wouldn’t even sing in front of each other!” confesses Áine. “We were both so nervous. Neither of had sung before in a band – I had made a New Year’s resolution to myself to finally do it – so at the start we would be just mumbling in front of each other. Eventually we just got used to it.”
The early promise has now blossomed. Their native Cork has taken them to its bosom, where the group sit at the vanguard of a buoyant, tight-knit clique of musicians and bands. It has no doubt helped that Hooray For Humans was formed out of the ashes of other well known Cork bands, but what is a little bizarre is how these disparate elements formed a coherent sound; Alan, a former member of hardcore group My Remorse, Áine, a certified noisenik on violin with pan-genre experimentalists Eachtra, and bassist Dave with indie act Waiting Room. It has even surprised themselves.
“Our sound just reflects a part of us,” admits Alan. “I know people who are shocked at how we sound, but for us it’s fun, it’s interesting and it’s enjoyable.”
Áine continues: “My musician friends will say to me, “How’s your ‘pop’ thing going?' and that’s fine. I mean, we don’t think it’s as ‘pop’ as they might see it. We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t have faith in it.”
Another whose faith in the band has been apparent is the Munster-based independent label Out On A Limb Records, whose roster also includes Rest, Giveamanakick, Windings and Crayonsmith. Alan is more than happy to be playing a part in this fervent enclave of indiedom.
“I don’t think we would have signed with anyone else,” he confesses. “They have a hands-off approach, and they never pressure us in one direction or another. We’re lucky that they’ve been so supportive.”
Despite the effervescent air Hooray for Humans extend both in person and on record, their relatively short tenure has not been without upheaval; drummer Wayne Dunlea recently left the band to pursue other musical interests. It was an amicable, albeit awkward, parting.
“It’s hard when someone in the band isn’t into it as much as you are,” says Áine. “You would be getting excited about some good news, yet you can see it doesn’t mean that much to others.”
Naturally as they are on the cusp of their debut release, there is little time for looking back. Alan admits he hasn’t even seen the album yet, and you might think that he’d have plans to rectify that situation sometime soon. Not today anyway.
“I think I’ll go home and watch the first four Friday The 13th movies back to back,” he suggests.
Horror for Humans suddenly seems more apt.

Hooray For Humans' debut album Safekeeping is out now on Out On A Limb Records. The single ‘Safekeeping’ is also out now.