Really Good Time: "We’re the best band in the world”

Sauntering into Hot Press HQ, it’s made immediately and abundantly clear that Dublin noisemakers Really Good time come as advertised. The first thing which stands out about this awesome foursome, as well as the A-Team evoking nicknames, are the matching jumpsuits.

“It’s workwear, right? We're in the band to do hard, hard work,” explains lead singer Dilly. “Whether we’re recording, doing a gig, or turning up to an interview.”

“We're all equal. We're all front men,” says bassist Jack Hitchcock, aka Le Coque. “So I guess the jumpsuits equalize us. Nobody can peacock too much.”

“And I’m a big fan of Alien”, adds drummer Ado.

Really Good Time. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

Labelling their own sound as "Vertigo era U2 covering Viagra Boys, or early Pixies and LCD Soundsystem records in a blender with some cheap speed,” the lads have been building a steady reputation on, among other things, their rip-roaring live shows. What goes into making sure concertgoers have a Really Good Time?

“I think we end up egging each other on,” says Le Coque. “If I look over across the stage at the Duke and he's whipping out this crazy Elvis Presley dance that I've never seen before, it’s on me to leg it across the stage and crack heads with Ado.”

“I don't know if anyone's ever picked up on this, but it feels like there's a slight competitive element to it,” observes the drummer. “Everyone’s like ‘How fucking weird can I make this?’"

“I actually kissed a man at on his nose while I was in the crowd at the last gig,” continues Le Coque. “I don't know what he was expecting, I thought he was squaring up to me, so I had to dissolve the situation with a delicate kiss on the nose. If you're reading this, beautiful man in the orange jacket, my number is...”

“There's an exchange of energy that happens in any gig and that's the big thing about performing for us,” interjects Dilly. “It’s why we're doing the whole thing in general. Regardless of if we're playing in front of two people, 60 people or 10,000 people, we always give the same energy.”

Really Good Time. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

Energetic is an appropriate descriptor for Really Good Time, as is confident, with the outfit steadfastly convinced in their (self-professed) status as the ’Best Band in the World’.

“You have to [believe that]. There's no point in doing it if you don't,” says Dilly.

Accompanying this brazen self-assuredness is an irreverent sense of humour present in many of their music videos and song titles.

“A lot of the time we use humour in a skewed way,” explains Dilly. “The topics can be very serious. A lot of songs off [the Escape From the Mountain of Spit EP] were taking aim at influencers in the manosphere, and that stuff can be quite damaging for people. It’s quite a serious topic which we feel quite seriously about, and finding a humorous way into it can kind of make it a little bit easier to digest.”

“We’re talking about grind culture. All those people who get up at 5 a.m. every morning and work through to 3 a.m. and then sleep for two hours,” elaborates guitarist Alex Conway, who also answers to The Duke. “Just ‘cause I do that, doesn’t mean other people have to.”

“Duke, you are pretty fucking ripped man,” compliments his bassist.

“The Duke is a robot,” says Dilly. “And he has a new series of YouTube videos coming out very soon.”

On a more serious note, the singer delves a little deeper into their concerns.

“I've had conversations with younger relatives who are into this stuff, and that's scary. They're kids and they're impressionable, and this stuff is designed to capitalize on that.”

“There's no fact check on this information either,” continues Ado. “People think because it’s on a website, then it’s real news. Then you're stuck in an echo chamber of weird shit and weird men telling you weird things and you just believe all of it.”

“I think the only way to combat stuff like that is irony, you have to be aware of how ridiculous the world is,” adds The Duke, bringing it back to the band’s tongue-in-cheek attitude. “I mean, when we're promoting ourselves, I think the only way to do it naturally is to do it with humour because it's so ridiculous and pathetic to ask people to spend time on anything really.”

Really Good Time. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

Speaking of spending, Really Good Time most recently delivered their banging new song ‘Pension Fund’ – a track so infectious that they believe it’ll rack up enough coin to usher in an early retirement.

“We wrote the tune in a day,” explains Dilly. “We'd been finishing a couple of other demos and we had this extra day in the studio. We were like, ‘Right, why don't we just try and come up with something straight away?’ and immediately we got this groove and this riff which were so catchy that we thought it was going to financially secure us for the rest of our lives. This is our pension fund, this is the one."

Beneath the thumping beat and bravura video — which charts the band's evolution from bullyable dweebs to swaggering rock gods — the tune taps on a hard truth: the grind and financial plight of being a musician, particularly in exorbitant, modern-day Dublin.

“The idea for the tune came very naturally from that, that your rock band can be your pension fund,” Dilly continues. “Which is perhaps a kind of ridiculous statement in 2024, or at any time. We were leaning into and finding the humour in that, but also the very earnest belief that it could be our pension fund. Like we said earlier we do believe that we’re the best band in the world.”

“It's a big sacrifice of your time and for a lot of bands, it's not their primary source of income,” reveals Le Coque. “So a lot of people have other jobs, and then you’re juggling girlfriends, or boyfriends, as well as family shit. There's only so much time.”

“That being said, the fire's never been doused,” he continues. “The longer it goes on, the brighter it burns. I think, rather than spending our money having a nice sun holiday, I’d prefer to spend it on go on tour with my three best buds, you know?”

“It operates in the same way as a pension fund,” Ado contributes. “In that you put loads of your heart into it, and at some point, it will come back.”

Really Good Time will be out on the road across the UK and Ireland this November, with gigs lined up for Dublin, Galway, Cork, Kilkenny, Belfast and Limerick. For full information on dates and venues, click here.

• Pension Fund' is out now. Watch the video on YouTube below: