The JD Set Live at Roisin Dubh, Galway

No apologies if this seems a shallow complaint, but why do so few Irish bands seem to pay any real attention to how they look? Sure, how they sound is obviously a lot more important but, sporting a plain white shirt and nondescript black slacks, Dave Marron, the frontman of Monaghan’s Sanzkrit, looked more like a misplaced head waiter than a credible rock and roll star. So no marks in the sartorial stakes.
As for their music, fairly straightforward heavy-ish guitar rock, a subsequent visit to their MySpace revealed excellent hooks and melodies that must have been lost in the noise tonight (perhaps unsurprisingly with two guitarists jostling for primacy). In other words, Sanzkrit are a far better band than their performance tonight would suggest.
The frizzy-haired, banjo-wielding frontman of Dublin’s Tupelo – a rootsy five-piece featuring a saxophonist, upright bass, fiddles and guitars – certainly had no lack of confidence issues. James Cramer looked a lot like Paddy Casey’s older, taller brother, and really gave it his all on stage. Maybe he gave a little too much. Tupelo are tight and talented, but on a couple of occasions, would’ve been far better off just letting their country bluegrass music do the talking.
Before playing what’s obviously their trademark tune, ‘I’m An Irishman’, the heavily accented Dubliner went into a long spiel about how the song was nothing to do with Republicanism – whatsoever. Presumably his tongue was firmly in his cheek, because he then crooned a ballad about Irish rebels being shot by the Brits in Kilmainham Jail, which managed to namecheck pretty much all 1916 of them. It’s actually a good song, but call it what it is, please. Not really this reviewer’s bag, but I could see Tupelo earning a fortune on the international Irish bar circuit. They’ll be of more limited appeal on the Irish Irish bar circuit.
Hailing from Donegal but now Galway-based, unsmiling indie rockers Go Panda Go came and went with an intelligent and accomplished set that very nearly saw them win this battle of the bands. Fast-slow guitars, haunting harmonies, whisper-to-a-scream vocals, and occasional freak-outs, there was plenty to like. The singer could work on his stage presence though. “This is a new song,” he told us. “I hope you like it.” A fellow judge turned to me and offered, “I’ll do my best.”
Last but most definitely not least, came the ultimate winners. Another guitar band, at times The Coonics didn’t sound a million miles away from Go Panda Go, but they had loads of youthful attitude, tighter hooks and genius lyrical licks such as, “She’s a crowd-pleaser – prick-teaser!”
A four-piece from Tuam, there was nothing Sawdoctor-ish about them – except for the small-town observational nature of some of their lyrics. In places, they sounded like Ireland’s answer to The Jam. On ‘Skinny Jeans’ (the song will be well familiar to listeners to Ian Dempsey’s radio show), the singer sang the line, “It’s always been about the look.” There’s more to the band than the way they look, but it was their compelling songs and the cocky way they carried themselves that won them tonight’s heat. The Coonics will now compete in The JD Set final in Dublin’s The Village on April 29.