States of the art

Alphastates
The succession of young Irish bands opening up proceedings across the board may not be facing such a torrid time as last year, yet they are still battling to keep the attention of the masses. Alphastates’ atmospheric stylings should suffer more than most, but they manage to pull off a small triumph. Catherine Dowling’s vocals still remain their most unique selling point, but they refuse to let themselves become dwarfed by the expanse of the space and even manage a stab at dry-ice-assisted dramatics.