Standard of Dublin Bands?

Shorty

Knobbles, read the "An Observation" thread, it's exactly about what you just said. And I think we're just at a bit of a low point at the moment for great music, I do feel we are due something new within the next year, a new musical movement.

johnnynolegs

a good point jonny very valid and true - anybody else have any theories on why there are few bands who are worthwhile out there?????

polarbelly

i think that there are alot of good bands out there... personally... i wont name them in case i leave out anyone

there are also alot of **** bands out there...

what i , again personally, like to hear in a band is emotion both in the music and lyrics...thats just me though

stage presence etc. as someone mentioned above does nothing for me except usually make me annoyed at the bands...

eh i have to go now but i'm sure i'll reply to myself later

mick

Holyghost

Originally posted by Raggamuffin
damn
i've seen some shockers
some nothern irish band claled the evangelists

jesus christ
if the holocaust was proof god did'nt exist then here was the icing on the cake.

Hmmmm... are you talking about the gig they played with the Warlords of Pez? The Evangelists very strange stuff indeed: Primus, Captain Beefheart, System of a Down. Not everyones cup of tea. Personally I think they are one of the best experimental rock bands in the country.

Good bands in Ireland? Off the top of my head... Weevil, Boa Morte from Cork, Yakuza from Belfast, The Redneck Manifesto, Large Mound, Neo Super Vital, Settler.

Arch

When it boils down to it, I think you have to acknowledge the validity of any band really – someone might want to start a band because they are kept awake at night by melodies, someone else because they want to fukc about with their buddies in front of people. But who can say which will end up the more popular act?

When there are bands with so many different aims and listeners with so many different opinions out there, I think it’s impossible to define any rules at all. When I go see a band that seems to have little to offer, I can’t say ‘these guys suck’ cause there are no rules, no agreed standards. You could think a band is the worst in the world but you will always find a bunch of people who love them. I don’t think record company staff have any more of a bull’s notion either. When No Doubt achieved success with ‘Don’t Speak’, A&R men were out looking for unsigned ska bands with female singers, for christ’s sake.

There will always be bands that have, in Spinal Tap terminology, ‘a more limited appeal’, but as to why their music isn’t as magnetic or convincing to a general audience as some other similar act, beats the schit out of me. So fukc it - I think anyone who wants to perform in public should be considered valid.

Arch
_________________________
http://www.stantonstation.com

Trev M

Hi Arch ,
Long time no hear , hope all is well ....must take a trip over to Stanton station ! Anyway I agree with you 100% on this one.....for me the talent out there is incredible, some of the bands I've seen have given me goosebumps ...Ooooooo:p

I think its very much down to people taking things for what they are not what they think they should be......

My favorite band at the minute are OZ I've seen them live a few times and bought the single there recently and think these guys are fantastic...now people will see that as a mate plugging a mate but in fact that isn't the case I met the band through gigsmart fair enough , but for me they're the best at what they do for me at the moment .....straight forward balls to the wall rock, great songs well put together with killer vocals and lyrics...the standard for me is high, these guys are not on their own either..Popstar are great live, same type of energy, Pinion are getting there...the lads improve evry time I see them...there are so many more....now these bands are not experimental or vastly different than a lot of other bands but the delivery of their music is great and thats what its about for me....a gig , in a bar , its loud its good and it gets your foot tapping and your adrenaline pumping or it makes you think , or remember or whatever......its music its not science , its not mathematics,......its not quatifiable.

I never go to a show and go .....oh these guys are a rip off of this or that, or they should do this or that ....they are what they are if I like em I'll see them again if not I won't , but I think its peoples closed minds that is the problem not whats on display, they've become victims of their own prejudice and unrealistic expectations. There's probably very few outstanding bands in the world at any given time that will make it bigtime but there are a lot of very good bands around who play what they play very well and I think if you look at it like that you become a bit more open to new and different stuff.


All the best - Trev

mojopin

It upsets me to read alot of the messages on this thread. No good Irish bands out there at the moment?? That's a joke. MY two favourite at present are the 66 electric and doug sheridan (who you can see for free every Sunday for god sake). What it boils down to is that most people just couldnt be botherd going to see someone based on one good song they heard on phantom or a good review from a friend, I on the other hand do it all the time,and not just because I'm in a band.
I'd like to say thanks to the random phantom listeners who helped fill up Isaac butts there 2 sunday's ago, really appreciated it, I could tell they were cause they just kept saying "play relapse, play relapse" which is the only song phantom have till today that is.


www.beautifullosers.info

Trev M

Spot On !
Although in fairness some people complaining I have seen at gigs so there is some case in there point, maybe its a case that the musical diversity is limited in Dublin and doesn't cater for peoples tastes enough? i just reckon though people just aren't open to new bands or local bands as much as they used to be.

thedrowner

Originally posted by Arch
When it boils down to it, I think you have to acknowledge the validity of any band really – someone might want to start a band because they are kept awake at night by melodies, someone else because they want to fukc about with their buddies in front of people. But who can say which will end up the more popular act?

When there are bands with so many different aims and listeners with so many different opinions out there, I think it’s impossible to define any rules at all. When I go see a band that seems to have little to offer, I can’t say ‘these guys suck’ cause there are no rules, no agreed standards. You could think a band is the worst in the world but you will always find a bunch of people who love them. I don’t think record company staff have any more of a bull’s notion either. When No Doubt achieved success with ‘Don’t Speak’, A&R men were out looking for unsigned ska bands with female singers, for christ’s sake.

There will always be bands that have, in Spinal Tap terminology, ‘a more limited appeal’, but as to why their music isn’t as magnetic or convincing to a general audience as some other similar act, beats the schit out of me. So fukc it - I think anyone who wants to perform in public should be considered valid.

Arch
_________________________
http://www.stantonstation.com

this is what ive been saying again and again and again

and i must say, all you begrudgers out there, how often do you actually go to gigs? if i reeled off a list of bands would u have seen them? I know when i first heard of the 66e i immediately presumed there were the same as a lot of the bands out there at the moment-but theyre not, as far as im converned anyway. i know there are plenty of bands i could just dismiss, thinking i had seen them before, of even if i ahevnt, that surely they must be the same standard as every1 else....but i coud be wrong.

The Evangelists

Originally posted by Raggamuffin
damn
i've seen some shockers
some nothern irish band claled the evangelists

jesus christ
if the holocaust was proof god did'nt exist then here was the icing on the cake.

Just for the record, we're from Muff in Donegal.
Jesus' díck went limp when he read that.

Silverfish

Um, back to the point.....

The standard of Dublin bands.

Not getting at you Mick, cos everytime I post something everyone takes it personally, but thats a bit of a generalisation. Its like...the way insurance companies treat 18-24 year olds etc.

There are some pretty bad Dublin bands out there, I won't name any,

But there are some pretty great ones out there too, like Johnny Pyro and dare I say it, Polar, and the Crayonz and stuff. But then again, thats just my opinion. Everyone has a different one. I know people who don't like these bands, and think the standard of bands in Dublin is pretty awful. I happen to think its doing okay.

A lot of bands around at the minute sound the same to me, though, there seems to be a lot of blandness infiltrating the Dublin music scene.

Candice

damnit! dont ya hate when ya have something to say..and then you can't remember

ah well.

hmm...

yessss


(btw, go to my website... www.candicemusic.moonfruit.com ...probably not the best post to start self promoting, but hey...every chance i get, eh? i am incredibly unorigional though, so i suppose it has relevance. i want to be the cliff richards)

johnnynolegs

I think you are right silverfish in that there does seem to be a blandness coming into the scene but really hasn't it always been there and any bands that come out now that are different are jumped on as the next big thing - even on this board???

Anyway what does it matter if one band sounds the same as the next or if one singer sounds the same as the next singer , once you like the songs that is all that matters . If you like the band then tell your mates and their mates and everyone you know. If you don't like them then just say "nope their not my cup of tea" don't go around saying they are crap they shouldn't live they should be playing etc.

thedrowner

like johnny, i rpesum,e this is the way it was and always has been, in most places around the world

its only becoming more relevant to me now as i take an interest

polarbelly

Originally posted by Silverfish
Um, back to the point.....

The standard of Dublin bands.

Not getting at you Mick, cos everytime I post something everyone takes it personally, but thats a bit of a generalisation. Its like...the way insurance companies treat 18-24 year olds etc.

There are some pretty bad Dublin bands out there, I won't name any,

But there are some pretty great ones out there too, like Johnny Pyro and dare I say it, Polar, and the Crayonz and stuff. But then again, thats just my opinion. Everyone has a different one. I know people who don't like these bands, and think the standard of bands in Dublin is pretty awful. I happen to think its doing okay.

A lot of bands around at the minute sound the same to me, though, there seems to be a lot of blandness infiltrating the Dublin music scene.

how is anything you said getting at me silverfish luv???

and

for the record the only reason i started this post was in reference to another board member saying that ALL dublin bands are ****e, i presumed if one does a few does so i was interested in why?

on a personal level... i know there are probably 1000's of gigging dublin bands ... i've maybe only seen 100, most of them i thought were good at what they do and only a handful of them were to my PERSONAL tastes... of the bands i do like i see them whenever they play if possible and i try to venture to as many gigs as possible in order to see new bands... i'm going to see oz and skylight tmrw two bands i know i like and i'm getting to see 2 other bands that i dont know...maybe i'll luv them

Ste k

i have been gigging for about 4 years now and have seen loads of bands and brilliant individual musicans in these bands but to be honest i dont think I have ever really seen more than a handful that I would go out and buy their CD (including the one I'm in). I dont what it is with Dublin but It seems that some of the music produced here just falls into this never ending land of repetitiveness. I have gone to gigs and heard bands playing Oasis'o'like songs still just not making an effort to do anything.

What alot of bands lack is a good lead singer who can not only hit the right notes but know which ones they are and write a decent melody. That seems to be a major problem in Ireland, mind you I think that Bono sings some of the best melody's ever written and I dont even like them, he just knows how to fit a vocal to the song.

Does anyone give classes in that!!!

Lunar Junkie

National Prayer Breakfast
Ten Speed Racer
The Redneck Manifesto
Settler
Playground Psychotic
Estel
The Jimmy Cake
Ely
Jeff Martin
Large Mound
The Chalets
The Dudley Corporation

et cetera

Shorty

For **** sake, there is only one truly great Irish band, yet everybody here seems to be blind to the fact.

It's LISTO!

Sheesh!!!:rolleyes:

Amz

Ahhhhh Listo.........what a truly inspiring piece of work!
The lads in the band are so generous that they were even giving away free tickets to their gig just so as not to exclude any of theri fans........

i had a tikcet but i was at a competition in leitrim to see who could watch paint drying the longest before the desire to scrape their own eyeballs out became too strong........im sure i misse a great night out in the TBMC but ya know family commitments and all that. For anyone thats interested John MCGuinness from Mohill county leitrim won that particular competition and will now participate in the world championships in Uzbeckistan next february.

Best of Luck John from all of us on the Phancom FM message board!
We love ya man!

Pigman

Originally posted by polarbelly
in fairness pigman... i dont know any dublin bands who are tryin to sound like u2.

Sorry, I was generalising there. What I mean is that every band (unintentially or not) seems to end up being the standard guitar clanging/strummin 4 piece combo with weak and boring vocalists to cap it all off. It could just be the places I'm going to but that seems to be the only type of music anyone wants to book.

There's always exceptions of course. Acts like Jimmy Cake, Burning Love Jump Suit and Sub Rosa come to mind as Dublin groups that are exciting prospects, but like I said, they are the exception rather than the rule.

The fact that the deplorable JJ72 are the only Dublin band in the past 5 years to get recognised outside this country gives indication to how dire the scene currently is.

polarbelly

yeah thats fair enuff, i agree with most of your points there...especially bout the ol' 4 piece banging out the same stuff

the jj72 point very good too, but i think melaton are making waves over in the uk, so hopefully we'll have a new dublin band getting a wee bit of international recognition fairly soon too

the66electric

We had Qincey as a support band because they were a good band with some good tunes.

That review was almost so vindictive it would make you wonder if he or she had a hidden agenda. I doubt it, but there is no need to take all the efforts of a band (costs, recording, printing and most importantly writing and independantly releasing a single) and piss on them from the lofty heights of Hotpress.

Of course the reviewer might thinks its so bad that he wants to go on a gun spree, but reviews that are more articulate and constructive, to me, would make Dublin less of a cold place for bands to meet other bands.

Otherwise, everyone is going to walk around thinking all other bands are **** and just hang out in Whelans with a wolly hat on pissing about why they cant get a gig there. But Hotpress have been known to bypass subtlety in the name of shock value, so were well used to it.

Not sure what my point was, but i have made it.

Um...

66e

hmmwhat?

Originally posted by the66electric
We had Qincey as a support band because they were a good band with some good tunes.

That review was almost so vindictive it would make you wonder if he or she had a hidden agenda. I doubt it, but there is no need to take all the efforts of a band (costs, recording, printing and most importantly writing and independantly releasing a single) and piss on them from the lofty heights of Hotpress.

Of course the reviewer might thinks its so bad that he wants to go on a gun spree, but reviews that are more articulate and constructive, to me, would make Dublin less of a cold place for bands to meet other bands.

Otherwise, everyone is going to walk around thinking all other bands are **** and just hang out in Whelans with a wolly hat on pissing about why they cant get a gig there. But Hotpress have been known to bypass subtlety in the name of shock value, so were well used to it.

Not sure what my point was, but i have made it.

Um...

66e

Hey

Thanks. Quincey really appreciated the gig- was great. Hate to go on but the song that was reviewed by Hannah in hotpress was not a single of ours- 'tis a VERY long story. Our new single isn't finished yet!

66 electric? New name for the band? Pretty cool.

Keep up the good work.

http://www.quinceyband.com

kirn

the best bands at the moment are the underground bands.

buy the compilation 'kicking against'
or
go to a ballroom of romance gig
or
ask in road records.

you can't expect good music to jump up and bite you, if you have a look you'll be rewarded.

people go on about jimmy cake, rednecks, last post, c40, dudley corp, etc but how many have listened to an album? or bought one?

the reason why they're talked about is because they're f u c k i n g good.

try it. if you want some recommendations ask me.

lamda

That sounds a bit too much like hard work if ya ask me... I think ill continue to follow the herd. Its so much lazier...
Baaaaaaa:p

mumblin deaf ro

The real problem with Irish bands is lack of originality. I've seen so many bands with soaring jeff buckley/thom yorke vocalists or who just turn on distrotion pedals to give their choruses a lift. When an original band comes along it's a truly great thing..

...which brings me to my next point which is that I saw the evangelists at that same Dublin gig and thought they were excellent.

wynters

I see a lot of bands where I work.

Best bands in Dublin..... nay the country!

1. Sonora
2. Pugwash
3. Turn
4. Blotooth
5. Easy

There's a lot of average bands out there alright, but in terms of quality music combined with good, confident performance, the above are the best by a long way

....... only MY opinion!!

the66electric

Actually bought the jimmy cake album last week and am looking foward to getting C40 album on the 15th in Whelans. I don't know what i want...

Um...

66e

Cozpyro

Johnny Pyro are playing in the DA2 tonight. Doors open at 8:00 and support is from Miles Judge.

I know that there's been a lot of flack on the board re bands plugging gigs, but in this thread I think it's appropriate.

I don't think there's any one out there making music like us and if it's something new and refreshing your after you should come down tonight.

soma

Johnny Pyro truly are fantastic - I ended up seeing them "by accident" in DA2 back in about july at their album launch - the gig was great, fantastic tunes, epic stage presence. Picked up a copy of the album on the night and it's fab.

Anyone bitching about lack of originality in Dublin needs to go see this gig.

Two points I'd like to make on this thread..

1) I play in a band too who are the standard rock quartet - but we have alot of fun writing music and playing gigs etc.. and our friends who come along to gigs have a good night out and a laugh.. we're never gonna conquer the world but u know what? we're having some FUN... is that so bad????

I really hate those sentiments on here like "there are ppl in bands for the wrong reasons blah blah.." what the hell?!!? I love playing in a band but just cos I'm not home every night wanting to slit my wrists and trying to "express my pain" through music does not invalidate my right to be a musician and play gigs.

2) I think the quality of bands in dublin is INCREDIBLY underestimated when compared to other cities in the world. This is a city of a mere 1 million ppl - and yet we have a plethora of acts I gladly pay to see. You've got ppl like gigsmart who obviously are genuine in their love for the music and for gigs.

The downside is we have a remarkably cynical audience to play to.