Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks

It is a cheery, DM-booted audience who greet Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks as they bound onstage to perform the last show of their European tour promoting new album Real Emotional Trash.

This is an audience dotted with musical faces from throughout Ireland’s music scene, and the carefully swept to the left side-partings and faded skinny t-shirts indicate more than a handful of dedicated Malkmus’ fans. However you sense the majority of the audience are not there simply to pay homage to the highly regarded past works of the former Pavement frontman. These collective ears are present to hear the frantic revving guitars and lyrical loveliness they have been experiencing on Real Emotional Trash in a live setting.

The scene for the night is set with the typically defiant sounds of opening song ‘Elmo Delmo’ which mutates effortlessly into ‘HopScotch Willie’ - the frankly terrifying story of a gentle-mannered psycho killer. The repetitive final vocal line describes the post-crime committing Willie as ‘panting like a pit-bull, minus the mean’. The growling, howling guitars of Malkmus and Mike Clark scream this terror across perfectly to the assembled Dublin crowd.

The addition to the Jicks’ line-up of former Sleater-Kinney and current Quasi drummer Janet Weiss has brought a more ferocious and tighter element to Malkmus’ songs, something which you feel he hasn’t been overly concerned about in the past. Weiss plays a significant part in expertly directing the songs from the dizzying mid-song freak outs into the tightly-beaten pounding of the verses and choruses.

Bass player Joanna Bolme plays as if to prove she deserves her place on Malkmus’ right-hand side. Standing tall and seductive, her bass lines somehow manage to smoothly intertwine and work with Malkmus’ awkward yet enthralling melodies.

Most of the new record is put on display and, judging by the nodding heads and extended applauses, is thoroughly enjoyed by all. A handful of older tracks are played, including ‘Do Not feed the Oysters’ and ‘Post Paint Boy’, but tonight is all about the re-invigorated sounds coming from Malkmus and his Jicks.

After the show, the band lie sprawled together in their dressing room, like a pride of lions after a successful hunt - pleased, relieved and drained from the performance they have just put in. They are already discussing where they might record the new album (France was being mentioned). This is a band brandishing a new energy - which this writer wholly approves of.

Take note those of you who turned off Malkmus when Pavement split. He is still here, and with the help of the Jicks, he will still delight your ears.

Words by Dominic Coyle

Photo courtesy of Fiona Diffley

Kick Box Riot - Seeing Ghosts

The sound of youth is an elusive beast indeed. Take Kick Box Riot – their jumpy, jerky rock is the kind of pogoing behemoth which typifies the chart music climate of about three years ago. The brash, shouty vocals and angry rock guitars from the Welsh five-piece sound fairly bandwagonesque for sk8ers, and from the lacklustre opener ‘The Hitchhiker’ to the Home Alone-referencing ‘Keep The Change You Filthy Animal’, they just sound like a Poundstretcher Lostprophets. This mini-album doesn’t get close to being haunted by original thought, which is somewhat undervaluing the kids. Kirstie McCrum

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DOWNLOAD: ‘FEAR OF CHANGE’, ‘SEEING GHOSTS’, ‘YOU’RE ONLY YOUNG ONCE’.
FOR FANS OF: LOSTPROPHETS, HOT HOT HEAT.

The Hold Steady - Sequestered In Memphis

The hoary old rock that The Hold Steady pour out is their strength and their weakness. They are, of course, pan-generational, pleasing wrinklies with their musical nod to the classic rock combos of the 1970s, while critical acclaim keeps them front and centre for the kids. But this limited edition single does a terrific job of representing their Eagles influences and is less than convincing at making the youngsters happy. Even their name lets you know they’re a safe pair of hands, so nothing shocking here. It just seems that The Hold Steady would do better to distance themselves from rock’s long and illustrious history, perhaps – lest they end up sequestered in a home for the elderly. Kirstie McCrum

Mercury Revved Up, Raring To Go

Psychedelic eccentrics Mercury Rev have lined up two new albums for September release. Snowflake Midnight will be the follow-up proper to their last studio album, 2005’s The Secret Migration. It will be available from September 29. The same day they’ll release Strange Attractor as a free download for members of the band’s mailing list. It is being reported that both records will see the band trade their previous orchestral sound to a more electronic footing.

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All Aboard For trans Central

Yes, get ready to embark on almost a month’s worth of top quality festival entertainment with trans ‘08. From July 14 through to August 10, Belfast’s Waterfront Hall will be the centre of the trans universe, a place where innovation in music, the arts and media is celebrated. When details of ‘Belfast’s most affordable summer festival’ were announced last week it was clear that this year could be trans best yet.

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Bonnaroo Bye Bye?

Having just announced the cancellation of her tour, including all UK shows and this month’s much anticipated Irish show at Tripod, M.I.A. has also intimated that she may be retiring from live performance altogether. The rapper told the Bonnaroo festival audience that “This is my last show and I’m glad I’m spending it with all my hippies.” She repeated the suggestion three times and left the stage with the words “Thanks for coming to my last gig.”

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Vibe Fest Poised To Deliver Best Unsigned Acts

Over the 16th and 17th of August, Vibe Fest will be bringing the best in unsigned talent to Enniskillen for a special showcase concert. Bands from Ireland and the UK will be taking part in the event which is being hosted by radio station Vibe FM. Details of the concert line-up are still to be confirmed with the promoters promising more exciting additions to a bill which so far boasts the likes of Sparks Fly, Blackball Fighter, I’m Not Maggie, Nice ‘n’ Sleezy and the awesome And So I Watch You From Afar.

Four Year Strong - Rise Or Die Trying

Four Year Strong are awesome. Following in the footsteps of Set Your Goals, they’ve taken the pop-punk basics of Blink 182, added in the hardcore elements of Gorilla Biscuits, and mixed in some synths, à la Motion City Soundtrack. It’s up-beat, happy hardcore (but not like Scooter, at all). There’s enough cross-over appeal on display that there’s a little something for any rock fan, and it’s super-polished, so its sure to be radio-friendly too. It wouldn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to see them follow in Fall Out Boy’s footsteps to global domination. They are after all, signed to Pete Wentz’s Decaydance Records in the US. Michael Wilson

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DOWNLOAD: ‘HEROES GET REMEMBERED, LEGENDS NEVER DIE’, ‘MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM HELL’.
FOR FANS OF: SET YOUR GOALS, FALL OUT BOY, NEW FOUND GLORY.

Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil

This album is a death trip right back to the sepia-tinged Fifties and Sixties. Though Atlanta, Georgia’s Black Lips are unquestionably revivalists, there’s nothing too contrived here. Their dark garage punk – with occasional excursions into twanging country and dirty blues – totally becomes them, though after five albums that’s to be expected. Frontman Cole Alexander has the drawl and a blunt way with words and several of the 13 short songs here are winners.

‘Navajo’ is one of the songs of the year – a salacious and totally un-PC tale of falling in love with “a little Indian girl”, the insanely catchy chorus spent pondering that she “could be Cherokee, Inuit, Etowah, Navajo / Sioux, Creek, Apache, Seminole….” Occasionally, the ramshackle production and garage band pitfall of samey songs temper the excitement, but songs like ‘Navajo’, the rollicking ‘Bad Kids’ and the actually quite touching paean to New Orleans, ‘O Katrina!’, keep the album – and the band – safe from also-ran status. They’re ploughing their own furrow alright, and they’re doing it in some style. Chris Jones

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DOWNLOAD: ‘NAVAJO’, ‘BAD KIDS’, ‘COLD HANDS’
FOR FANS OF: THE REVILLIONS, THE SONICS

Carly Sings - The Glove Thief

Co. Wicklow’s Carly Blackman spends her time between Ireland and France, and it shows on this winsome debut. An eclectic recipe of pop, folk, shades of jazz and hints of samba is served up alongside a voice reminiscent of an introspective Polly Harvey. The delightful ‘George Emerson’ is bathed in intrigue, while ‘I Am Right’ seethes as only a scorned lover can. While there is no denying its charm, The Glove Thief lacks a truly standout track to propel Blackman into the limelight, and in places it strays dangerously close to dinner party background music. John Freeman

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DOWNLOAD: ‘GEORGE EMERSON’, ‘I AM RIGHT’, ‘EYES CLOSED’.
FOR FANS OF: BETH ORTON, HOLLY GOLIGHTLY, PJ HARVEY.

Hooray For Humans - Safekeeping

Cork’s Hooray For Humans are just a year old, and yet have managed to churn out their debut album already. Impressively, Safekeeping doesn’t feel particularly rushed and features moments of genuine quality. ‘Signature’ sets the tone – fuzzy guitar-pop, sweet boy-girl vocals, various shouty bits and an instantly hummable chorus. H4H make much of their more avant-garde influences but their leftfield flourishes serve mostly as a garnish to the main course of Pixies-indebted indie rock – which is fine as far as it goes, but over an entire album they’re perhaps slightly over-reliant on the hollered vocals shtick. Having said that, the electro throb of ‘Don’t Drink That!’ and ‘Kittenfish’s M83-inflected coda suggest a genuinely experimental heart beating beneath the pop hooks. Elsewhere, the quiet, twinkling ‘Goodnight’ is probably the loveliest 120 seconds on the whole album, while mini-epic closer ‘Salt ‘n’ Vinegar’ is full of unexpected changes of direction. As a relatively new act, it’s no criticism to suggest that there’s a sense here of a band still to truly find their niche. Quite the opposite – it’ll be fascinating to see where Hooray for Humans go from here. Safekeeping is a debut full of sparkle and promise – cause for celebration indeed. Neill Dougan

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DOWNLOAD: ‘SIGNATURE’, ‘GOODNIGHT’, ‘SALT ‘N’ VINEGAR’.
FOR FANS OF: PIXIES, ASH, M83.