Live Report: Bray outfit Scustin bring funk, pub talk and groovy rhythms to Limerick

After a last-minute venue change, Friday July 22 saw Bray band Scustin hit Dolan's Upstairs.

Scustin fuse a funk sound with eccentric storytelling, labelled as "pub talk", creating hilarious narratives weaving through the band's live performances. The Wicklow-based quartet finished up their Ireland and UK tour with three dates in Cork, Limerick and Dublin. Joined by various acts throughout the ten date tour, Limerick greeted opening acts ARMCANDY and Kill 'Em Charlie with open arms.

First to the stage were duo ARMCANDY. Formed during lockdown, blues-rap/jazzy electronic pairing Ikenna Anyabuike and Eamon Dunne make up ARMCANDY. These two were far from what I was expecting as an opening act for the messers that are Scustin. Masking profound lyrics with soulful R&B rhythms, ARMCANDY's diverse subject matter included homelessness, poetry, climate change, Italian artists, and so on. Ikenna, or IIIA as he goes by, wore his heart on his sleeve for their set, discussing how difficult a year 2020 was for him, outside of Covid-19, with many people close to him passing. This heartache was expressed through lyrics: "I don't believe in heaven but I want it right here."

The duo only have one released track 'Bon Bon Voyage', but have by far enough solid content for an EP, at least. Much like Denise Chaila's music, starting out with poetry seems to have aided this team hugely both with groove and with lyrics.

Seen dancing along and participating hugely throughout ARMCANDY's set, Kill 'Em Charlie were next to the stage. An indie-rock outfit from Cork, Kill 'Em Charlie are a bunch of cheeky chaps with a lot of talent. Easily comparable to Arctic Monkeys, The Fratellis, and The Kaiser Chiefs, these lads know how to get a crowd moving. With two EPs already out, the group debuted a new track from a further EP releasing within the next month (allegedly).

Tracks 'One Thing To Say', 'Mama Jive', and of course the aptly chosen song title for a Cork band, 'Beamish', were standouts. My personal favourite track, lacking a title as of yet, gave huge 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' vibes. The band have announced a headline Cork show in Fred Zeppelin's this August - which, going by their Dolan's set, should not be missed.

Grabbing a stool and a mic and asking the crowd to gather around him in a circle, lead-singer Larry kicked off Scustin's set in a most unusual way. With insane energy and charisma, the band worked in perfect rhythm in what seemed like an incredibly unconventional opening. The band turned their opening track and debut single 'The Killer' into an interactive piece, describing the group as "more of a community than a band" which revolves around the aforementioned "pub talkin'." It became apparent very early on that this would be a show unlike any I'd seen before, with Larry becoming a narrator of sorts and each song tying in as part of a long-form story. The quartet's second track 'Sick Of Making Love To You' was wildly introduced as not a love song but "a song about watching too much porn."

Perfect musical comedic timing evident, it's obvious this band have an underlying air of professionalism that doesn't falter for a second. With a strong infiltration of spoken word, Scustin creates a very jazzy/groovy take on indie-rock. Larry introduces new characters to the mix 'The Candy Man' and 'The Wolf of Harcourt Street', before inviting a group of fans on stage to help him sing 'Drinking Cans In A Field With Matt Damon'.

Eventually getting off the stage and leaving the fans to sing the end of this track, Larry clearly held intense power over the crowd, at one point conducting the audience to sing along with him. Throwing in a beautiful Luther Vandross 'Never Too Much' cover as one of their final tracks, these lads demonstrated their intense musical ability, with guitarist Liam Smith serving serious stank face throughout.

The closing song of Scustin's set was a massive middle finger up to the state of our capital city, Dublin, which the band see as a "hotel paradise", including lyrics: "send our regards to Dublin" and "we want the city back." Encouraging the crowd to sing along, Larry led the crowd in a chorus of "Fuck Fine Gael, fuck Fianna Fáil too." Leaving the stage for a few seconds before the crowd demanded another tune, the group came back with a renewed energy for their last hurrah.

Out of all the things I expected from this set I really didn't think it would include the entire crowd getting down to their knees before moshing to the lyrics: "Don't put blackcurrant in that pint of Guinness." An Irish, funk infused take on Bloodhound gang and Flight of the Conchords; this band had the crowd in the palm of their hands for their entire set.

Days on from the gig, I still have their songs stuck in my head, concreting the promising rise to fame for this band. Don't miss their sets at All Together Now and Electric Picnic this summer.

Check out the bizarre nature of Scustin in 'The Killer' video below.