Oliver Nolan
Staff Writer
From tonight through to the early hours of Sunday morning, venues across Dublin will pay host to the cream of the local music scene in the ninth annual Hard Working Class Heroes festival. Set up by FMC and Wrong Tape Speed in 2003 as a show-case for emerging Irish musical talent, HWCH has gone from strength to strength, and has long since established its place on Dublin’s musical calendar. There’s also a lot to do other than go to gigs over the coming days, including free(!) day-conventions on music technology (Meet the Geeks),as well as panel interviews with bookers from international festivals like SXSW and Camden Crawl. Here’s a small selection of the plethora of bands over the coming nights…
Moths, Saturday 10.15 – 10.45, The Workman’s Club.
Moths, aka Jack Colleran, has seen his fan base swell over the course of the year, the Kildare man’s brilliant brand of ‘lo-fi electronica’ striking a chord with many a blogger. With acclaimed sets at Castlepalooza and the Body & Soul arena at Electric Picnic, his will no doubt be one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend. One particularly hysterical fan claims in a Youtube comment that Heart helped him come to terms with losing his leg in a horrible unicycle accident. He could also lay claim to the best Facebook status I’ve ever seen: “Today has been mental. Got my Leaving Cert results and signed the contract for a recording deal with a major label all in the one day. Lets goooooooo”
Come On Live Long, Saturday, 8.00 – 8.30pm, The Grand Social.
Formed only a year ago, Come On Live Long marry dream-like synths with acoustic guitars and ukelele to create their own, alluring sound. The two tracks on their debut, self-titled EP, are most promising indeed. The brooding Animal stands out, beginning low-key with solo ukelele and falsetto vocals, giving way to a euphoric, synth led chorus. Their follow up EP, recorded with Adebesi Shank producers Eoin Whitfield and James Eager is currently being mastered, and will be released in the coming months.
Rockin Through A Cube from spies on Vimeo.
Cloud Castle Lake, Saturday 9.30 – 10.00pm, The Workman’s Club.
Winning a place opening the weekend at Stradbally in 2010’s Pick for the Picnic contest, Cloud Castle Lake have established themselves as one of Dublin’s most ambitious and interesting bands. Their Facebook blurb claims that their music is influenced by ‘film, literature and real life’, perhaps accounting for the dynamic sprawling nature of some of their work. Particularly apparent are allusions to Radiohead’s more ambitious oeuvre, not least in singer Daniel McCauley’s vocals. No bad thing. Since curating their own Crawdaddy gig in March, the four-piece have been busy working on their eagerly anticipated debut album. In the meantime, their cover of Kanye’s Lost In The World, a collaboration with members of Trinity Orchestra, is worth a look. (“Who will survive in the Republic?!”)
Spies, Thursday 9.00 – 9.30, Button Factory.
Making their HWCH debut, this Dundrum band have created quite a stir since their conception. Spies have been gigging prolifically of late since a Summer that included an appearance at the inaugural Forbidden Fruit festival, where they attracted a substantial crowd. Their Liars Call Me King EP was released in October 2010 and their most recent single, Barricade, was awarded single of the fortnight in Hotpress earlier this year. Songs like the atmospheric Fill The Silence and stand-out Weaker Body have led to inevitable comparisons to The National, but singer Michael Broderick’s soaring vocals couldn’t be further from Matt Berninger’s baritone delivery. A new EP will be released in the coming months.
Rockin Through A Cube from spies on Vimeo.
The Kanyu Tree, Friday 12.45 – 1.30, Mercantile.
While this will be far from the first opportunity to catch the Galway three piece in action, its one that shouldn’t be missed. Theirs is a poppy, summery sound, as displayed in singles Radio and Shelf Life. Fittingly, they played almost every Irish festival this summer, including the main stage at our very own Trinity Ball. Brothers Daniel, Shane and Oisin Cluskey launched their debut album People Street in Whelans last Friday, and will follow their HWCH appearance by continuing their nationwide tour with former Blizzards frontman Bressie.
