LIVE REVIEW: Ones To Watch

January is generally considered a month of wind, rain and failed resolutions. Luckily for us, January is also the month where the music industry goes into overdrive looking for the bands and sounds that are going to make waves over the next twelve months. That’s the thinking behind this three night showcase in Whelan’s that has rounded up some of Ireland’s finest new bands to show off what they’ve got and set out their stall for 2014.

Floor Staff are a relatively new band. Their debut, The Good Luck EP, only surfaced back in July but it is clear from the opening notes that they have come to the party fully formed. They have a more muscular sound live than on that EP and the new songs show great promise shifting between a number of styles with ease. EP lead-off track ‘The Guest’ in particular shows off the band’s vast potential and the crowd are sorry to see them leave. Expect to hear more from this lot over the course of the year.

Cove are next up and a wildly different proposition. The Tipperary three piece offer needling Two Door Cinema Club riffs backed by electronic beats. One’s enjoyment of Cove will likely centre on their feelings towards the microphone effects that are used on the majority of the vocals. This brings mixed results with some songs recalling the vocal style of Sigur Ros’ Jonsi while others lose their melody amongst the occasionally cluttered soundscapes. ‘Silhouettes’ is the highlight.

The Academic are a gang of youthful scamps from Mullingar making unabashed and joyous pop music. They might wear their influences on their sleeves – Arctic Monkeys and early Kings of Leon’s fingerprints are audible on a couple of numbers – but when the results are this tuneful it is hard to find fault. ‘Bear Claws’, the band’s first single, is chock-full of hooks and should be coming to a radio near you soon.

Moscow Metro are as dark and as moody as you would expect from a band whose breakingtunes intro is simply a quote from Albert Camus’ ‘The Stranger’. While Ian Curtis and Matt Berninger’s influence may be evident in the downbeat vocals, the music itself does occasionally break into Technicolor, most notably on ‘Spirit of a City’. Not all of tonight’s set matches up to the two songs the band have released thus far online, but there is much potential in the band and Moscow Metro are certainly ones to watch.