Planet of Sound

They say good things come to those who wait. Well, that's certainly the case with Cork’s Chunky Planet, who've just announced the release of their long-overdue follow-up to 2004’s Hot Press Pick Of The Fortnight, ‘Pensioners Watch TV’. The Walking In My Shoes EP will hit the streets on October 16. The upcoming opus gets an offical launch in The Crane Lane Theatre on the day of release.
In addition to the title track, the CD features upbeat nugget ‘Take Me To The Stars’, blues number ‘No Messages, No Complaints’ and the experimental tones of ‘Suicide Bomber’. Local luminary Annette Buckley lends her piano skills and vocals to the mix. The CD is available in Plug’d Records, Cork, Road Records, Dublin, CD Baby and from the band’s website www.chunkyplanet.com…
On another celestial note, Kildare outfit Planet Parade release their debut EP, Ghosts To People, on the tastily-titled Lemon Cake Records on October 9. The band are gearing up for a debut appearance at the Hard Working Class Heroes festival in October, and also have a slew of their own shows lined up, so check out hotpress.com for updates…
From Lemon Cake Records to Grand Cake Records, home of The Rags. News from their camp is that ‘A Mirror To A Woman’ will be unleashed on 25 September. The single will be available digitally with a limited amount of CD copies available via their myspace and website. Catch them live in Crawdaddy on October 3, with more shows around the country including Dundalk, Galway, Limerick and Mullingar on the horizon……
In other 7” news, Hogan have just released ‘PS You’re Crazy’ which follows hot on the heels of lauded tune ‘Jealousy’. The band’s trajectory has been firmly in the ascent, with them having chalked up appearances on The Strawberry Alarm Clock, Tommy and Hector’s iRadio Show, The Last Broadcast and landed the Song Of The Week on Ian Dempsey’s show on Today FM…
Irish duo Carosel have just released their new single ‘Easy As It Flows’, available as a free download from www.carosel.ie. Longplayer Kaleidoscope received rave reviews earlier this year. The latest news from the band is that they have been invited to appear on season two of Canadian TV show Arbor Live…..
Sleep Thieves, featuring Sorcha Brennan (ex-Butterfly Explosion), Wayne Fahy and Derek Murphy, have released debut ‘City Lights’ following on from their beguiling debut EP, It Was Only A Satellite (June 2009). The aural gem was recorded by Derek in the band’s rehearsal room and mixed/mastered by Chris LeDantec at Grand Canal Studios.
Since their live debut in November 2008, the troupe have played some notable shows including the 2009 IMRO Showcase, support to Saint Etienne at Cork Opera House, with Dark Room Notes at their album launch and at the Fight Like Apes-curated Ruby Sessions. Ones to keep an eye on!
Limerick’s Size 2 Shoes (Eoin and Moley O’Suilleabhain) release ‘Sitting By The Sea’, the lead single from their self-titled debut album on October 23. If you caught their set at EP you’ll know why this is a must-have…
Ollie Cole puts out his debut EP What Will You Do? on October 2 through EMI. The songs are culled from debut longplayer We Albatri which hits the streets early next year. Catch Ollie live on October 1 in The Odessa Club, October 2 in the Roisin Dubh, October 8 in Cypress Avenue on at the Hard Working Class Heroes festival in Dublin on October 17...
Drogheda’s SJ McArdle has just released ‘Chin Up’. The track is taken from an album’s worth of new material which was recorded in Nashville. During his time there, SJ had the good fortune to work with Rodney Crowell, Bryan Sutton (Rickie Skaggs, Dixie Chicks, Tony Rice), Richard Bennett (Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler) and Dan Dugmore (James Taylor, Warren Zevon). Will keep you posted on more SJ news...