Radiohead's Thom Yorke said, “This is me and my son's favourite music at the moment” when speaking about Irish noisemakers Girl Band on BBC Radio One just before Christmas. The band will be headlining a show at the Garbo's venue next Friday, April 7. The last few years have been momentous for Girl Band. Their most recent album “Holding Hands With Jamie” on Rough Trade has raised great acclaim from The Guardian, NME, NPR, Vice, and further afield, they have been named as one of the best new bands of 2016 by Stereogum and one of the best rock bands active today by SPIN.
Recorded in April 2015, two days after returning home from their first-ever US tour, the nine tracks making up Holding Hands with Jamie capture, more than any previous recordings, the tension and abrasive energy of a Girl Band performance.
Recalling any number of things but for only milliseconds at a time, Girl Band make a mockery of comparisons, because you can only get as far as "oh this bit sounds like–" before a guitar scuff-screams or the bass crunches in. One look at the new video for “Baloo” from their Rough Trade session and it is easy to see why the band has been the subject of such adoration. The quartet harnesses existential anxiety and wields it like a weapon, crafting a captivating cacophony.
Support for this show comes from Bitch Falcon. The three-piece are set to embark on their first tour coinciding with the release of their newest single, “Clutch”. Two years on from an initial explosive emergence, the Dublin-based three-piece haven’t so much discovered their voice as honed and refined it. They relish in frenetic declarations, their sound always moving forward while throwing occasional nods to the past.
The sonic aesthetic is raw, even a touch frenzied, yet manages to harness the strongest elements of rock, grunge, metal, hardcore and melodic electro-pop. Bitch Falcon's end result is a distinctive, once-heard-not-forgotten voice. Opening support act on the night is the brilliant Fontaines!
Tickets for Girl Band next Friday night, April 7, are now on sale and are available from Downtown Records and Hogs Heaven Bar in Castlebar. Online tickets are available through www.tickets.ie For further information visit www.finbarhobanpresents.com
