Following on from the success of their debut single Love Like Nicotine, Dublin-based electronic pop act Dark Room Notes are set to release their first EP Dead Start Program on 12^th October. There's something instantly appealing about Dark Room Notes with the band being compared to likes of New Order, Depeche Mode, Talking Heads and Interpol. Dead Program Start is sure to be an instant hit, comprised of tracks that proved popular during their high energy live performances. We pegged the band as one to watch at HWCH and from what I hear they were a huge success, playing to packed room. You can preview the entire EP by heading to their myspace...

The Dead Start Program tour kicks off this week with gigs at Cyprus Avenue tonight, Spirit Store tomorrow and Tower Records (2pm) / Crawdaddy on Saturday 13th.

***COMPETITION***

To celebrate the launch of Dead Start Program we've got a copy of the new EP and a pair of tickets for Saturdays Crawdaddy gig to giveaway. First answer this simple question:

Name Dark Room Notes debut single?

Then email your name and answer to freshcompetitions@gmail.com. First email in the door wins!

-phil

pic: Betamax Format @ HWCH '07 - misslili

Before I head out for some house party action (flu tablets and jager...yes!) I want to claim how excited I am about tomorrow. As already mention earlier today current music industry darlings, Los Campesinos! play Whelans tomorrow night but I just discovered that Beatmax Format are lined up for the support. Most excellent news as I was pretty annoyed at having to miss them at the weekend (plus I'll be able to get my mitts on a BF tee). Tickets still available at the door for a meager €13.

MP3 Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!

MP3 Betamax Format - You Are Welcome In My House

And while I have you...another one of my "favorite bands that I missed at HWCH", Butterfly Explosion have put up a new track for download on their myspace. It'll only be up for about a week so go here to download new track 'Vision' along with two tracks from their 'Turn The Sky' EP.

-phil

pic: Super Extra Bonus Party @ HWCH '07

Well there ain't many unfortunately as I could only make Friday. Saturaday was a family gathering of the grand scale and Sunday was spent in bed sick. Boo-urns. So here's a rather small report.

First off the 'all-in-one' building setup works. I was a smidge late getting down to Pod so I missed Gavin Glass but I hear good things which is nice to know. After meeting the gang myself Bernie and Sinead headed to Tidal District in the Working Man's Club. I was instantly blown away but this is defiantly a band worth checking further down the line.

Next up was festival favorites Super Extra Bonus Party. I really like the Party's instrumental material and it was a great show filled with high-jinx. The Crawdaddy room was full with bodies been directed to the balcony area upon arrival. It's a bit late but shout out to nialler9. Happy Birthday dude!

After a quick bevy (Budweiser, Budweiser, Budweiser or Guinness) we popped off to the Lennon Lounge for something a bit different. Los Langeros sang and danced into the crowd and were made for a Spiegeltent performance but their certainly not everyone's cup of tea (ahem...Sarah!). Real fun band worth checking out.

In a continued attempt to hit every room at the festival (missed Tripod!) we headed to the Pod room to check out The Minutes upon Bernie's recommendation. Their a really together band with some good tunes so do check them out. They play Whelans with the Blonde Majority on October 4th.

Finally I dashed over to the Odeon by my lonesome to check out Le Bein. I could natter on about the duo all night but the bottom line is they continue to get better and better. Roll on a hard copy release.

Props to all those involved with photo exhibition including our boy Dan and Miss Lili (photo at top of post). The work looked fantastic and Crawdaddy's Lobby Bar should be used for more of the same in the future.

The drive home was filled with power ballads and garlic/cheese chips. Great night and I'm gutted I couldn't make the rest of the weekend. No dice I guess.

HWCH 2008 anyone?

-phil

Hard Working Class Heroes 2007 kicked off last night and music heads were out in force for another extravaganza of the Up'n'Coming. Established as my favourite thing on the unsigned calendar, HWCH is a chance to fill your sh'boots with a boost of the year's best bands. Plus it's so hardcore: last year I photo'd cocaine nosebleeds and was strangled by a bleary blonde in a leopardskin gilet!
O, an indie event, by the people for the people. 2006 boasted venues like the Hub and Spirit which furthered grimy, garageband appeal of new music Which wasn't replicated at POD this weekend. Every event seems to suffer a bashing once it's been established but I'm not about to do that here. Although POD's a swanky hangout, the proximity of each gig was a massive plus, making it easy to manage schedule-clash. There seemed to be more people hanging outside Crawdaddy than at the gigs, alas, 'tis the scene...Myself and HP journo Kilian Murphy legged it around from Eric Echkhart (whose set was polished. Consummate professional) at the Odeon to my beloathed Crawdaddy (light rig is usually crap, no change there: I couldn't get a single good shot of Super Extra Bonus Party or Scandinavian precursors El Ray.) SEPR were brilliant, Crawd was pounding. I want to dedicate a night to getting super extra bonus drunk very soon. The best lights were Hassle Merchants at Working Man's Club, which doesn't even have a stage. HM's notorious brand of self-promotion (which good as got them arrested last Saturday, for breaching the peace by setting up an impromptu gig in Temple Bar square) paid off as they played to a really good crowd.
Then we finished off with the Jimmy Cake in Tripod. How kooky are they?

Hassle Merchants and The Jimmy Cake

SATURDAY

My utmost fears tonight centre around the lights. I may have to sacrifice a rooster to avoid another dry ice/red gel scenario like last night. I love the very concept of HWCH, I so want to see old friends, hear new sounds, get caught up in the spankin' good mood of a great lig and the menu's full of treats. Expect the best Noise Control pics you've ever seen, expect the unnattainable: an exposed shot of TwinKranes.
Booze should be avoided but it's a Budweiser bar so I'm not missing out. Plus, I found half a bottle of vodka in the secret compartment of my cam bag which must've been left over from EP. Hooray!?

Ooh, my right pinky's smarting from an errant spliff and the no booze idea went down the pan pretty much as soon as I got there (after a ride in the most patronising taxi ever. "Ooh, ye're a phootographer, are ye reeally? Little oul' you? Reeaally?")

God, the POD! Sorry to be predictable but honestly, what awful lights! 1600 ISO, f2.8 and 125sec all the way...just to expose and focus correctly. Anything more is just luck. There'll have to be a lot of black and white for pics in the venues. I'm just working on the worst shots now, that way my faith is renewed when I get to the good ones. Tupelo Honeys and DRN are looking good...I'd suffocate holding my breath for Aleko.

SUNDAY

Do you hear the fading rumble of HWCH packed up in a taxi and sent home to bed til next year?
Tonight was undoubtably the best night for photos because I decided that flash would be a necessity and HP would have to like it or lump it. Wise decision on my part...

I'll cut to the chase: Jape and Halves were topping! Halves are so intricate and intense. Jape's something else entirely. Why can't pop sound this good? Photos pronto in the morning. It's 03:22 and a police helicopter is hovering outside my window. I better check we're not harbouring a car thief.

Monday's whipping past and I've a criminal workload. My Mac is being all buzzy and giving me electro-shock therapy, which means I can't use photoshop and have to batch them on this poohy PC. The two newer montages were made in MS Paint with a bag of Waffles.

The final review of the weekend will cover :

Hassle Merchants
SuperExtraBonusParty
The Jimmy Cake
Fight Like Apes
Noise Control
Halves
Channel One
Tupelo Honeys
Dry County
Grand Pocket Orchestra

Check out HotPress on Thursday for the full low-down=D

So HWCH is almost upon us (exciting!). Below are the weekends schedules with the surprise inclusion of the Odeon as a venue. Tickets are still available (Night pass €15, weekend pass €30) and can be bought from the POD box office which is open 12pm - 11pm each day. Below is my list of Irish recommendations and you can view the individual schedules after the jump.

-phil

*deep breath*

Alphastates, Betamax Format, Butterfly Explosion, Channel One, Chicks, Dark Room Notes, Dry County, Evil Harrissons, Fifteen Minutes, Fight Like Apes, Gavin Glass , Grand Pocket Orchestra, Halves, Ham Sandwich, Hassle Merchants, Jenny Lindfors, Kill City Defectors, Le Bien, Los Langeros, Michael Knight, MIGALINX, Miss Paula Flynn, Noise Control, One Day International, Panda Kopanda, Queen Kong, rhob, Sub Rosa, Super Extra Bonus Party, The Laundry Shop, The Radio, The Terribles, Tidal District,Valerie Francis, White Noise

Not really much to say about MIGALINX because, well I don't really know much about them. Another group I came across while checking out this year's lineup, all I can tell you is the following:

1. Their Irish.
2. There's three of them.
3. Track Glitch is a cracker.
4. Thy have a myspace - www.myspace.com/migalinx
5. They play the Odeon on Sunday 30th at 11pm as part of HWCH
6. They will 'hopefully' have a four track EP released in time for October.

Can anybody add anything to that?

MP3 MIGALINX - Glitch

-phil

Loud. Crunchy. Dirty. Electro. Punk. Rock. Noise Control. Single "Steel" quickly made it to No.2 in the Irish download charts and Noise Control have been snowballing ever since. The band played support to The Prodigy for the Irish leg of their European tour so already their hanging out with the right crowd. My first introduction to Noise Control was last years IMRO showcase and I guarantee you they will take the roof off the Pod room when they play this year's HWCH. Look out for them at 10pm on the Saturday and be sure to check out the Star Little Thing remix of Steel on their myspace.

MP3 Noise Control - Addiction

-phil

A surprise hit (in my opinion) on Phantom FM, I only discovered Gavin Glass while having a gander over this years HWCH lineup. Turns out he also plays with a friend of mine, N.C Lawlor, and combined with a few other heads you've got Gavin Glass and the Holy Shakers. With a voice made for this kind of music, current single "Older Than My Years" is a classy Ryan Adams like number thats hard to come by in this country. Debut album "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" was released in 2005 and 2nd album, simply titled "Gavin Glass & The Holy Shakers" is released this Friday, just in time for their HWCH slot at 8pm. It's sure to be one of this years more unique HWCH performances.

MP3 Gavin Glass & The Holy Shakers - Older Than My Years

Video:

-phil

The t-shirt has been designed by New York artist Artur Arbit (www.twistedrobot.com) who has designed posters for shows in NYC, Berlin and Dublin. The tees should be available on the Betamax website next week and you'll be able to pick up one at live shows including this months HWCH show Saturday 28th.

-phil

Dark Room Notes released single "Love Like Nicotine" back in June to rave reviews. With plenty of airplay and media coverage (including a great one page spread in Totally Dublin), the band have been quickly picking up pace. I was lucky enough to see them live when they played as part of this years IMRO showcase and have been a fan every since. Their HWCH session is sure to be jammed as fans egarly await the forthcoming EP "Dead Start Program", released October 12th through Gonzo Records, with a launch party in Crawdaddy Oct. 13th. Not to be missed.

MP3 Dark Room Notes - Love Like Nicotine

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posting. ran straight from EP into a film shoot so I won't get back into regular posts till I've cleared that. Moving on...interesting month September as it sees festivals for both theatre, music and the arts. As I'm sure you know by now the Hard Working Class Heroes music festival kicks off in Tripod September 28th with the Dublin Theatre Festival also starting just before on the 27th. Earlier in the month with have the fantastic Dublin Fringe festival with its mix of music, theatre and art. That runs from the 8th to the 23rd. We'll hopefully have a closer look at that soon. You can have a gander at the rest of our live recommendations after the jump...

6th - Mice Parade @ The Village €16.50
7th - Hybrasil @ The Village €16.50
10th - Holloways @ The Village €17.50
12th - Howe Gleb @ The Village €22.50
17th - My Brightest Diamond @ The Sugar Club €15.00
21st - Foals @ The Village €14.50
22nd - Delerentos @ Whelans €15.00
22nd - The Strange Death Of Liberal England @ The Hub
24th - Happy Mondays @ Olympia Theatre €44.20
25th - David Kitt @ Whelans €21.50
25th - Feist @ Tripod €24.50
25th - Xavier Rudd @ Olympia Theatre €30.20
27th - David Geraghty @ Whelans €13.50
27th - Ingrid Eto (Zero 7) @ The Village €25.00
28th - Future Kings of Spain @ The Village €15.00
28th - HWCH @ Tripod
29th - HWCH @ Tripod
30th - HWCH @ Tripod

Seems fitting we should put this up now. But we'll get to that in a minute. Betamax Format create synth driven indie anthems to make you WORK IT...or something like that. Inspired by "soundtracks from x-rated movies of the 70's and 80's" among other things, Betmax Format sound their best when the vocals are thrown in for good measure, as is displayed with current single 'You Are Welcome In My House'. That catchy number is currently the no. 1 most played song on Phantom FM (we now refer you back to the first sentence of this post) and is sure to be a live highlight at this year's HWCH.

MP3 Betamax Format - You Are Welcome In My House

With a new EP, t-shirts (yum!) and website on the way plus supporting New Yorkers Oneida on their Irish tour (Whelans Oct. 6th), Betamax Format are sure to be busy boys all the way to Christmas - and that can only be a good thing.

myspace.com/betamaxformat

-phil

Well the lady behind the music is second year DCU communications student Miss Paula Flynn. Paula's voice has that quality that we all instantly attach to no matter what your musical preferences are. A softer Regina Spektor and a less quirky Joanna Newsom, her cover of David Bowie's 'Let's Dance' became an instant classic among those of the Today FM listening persuasion. I hope she continues to experiment with her voice and sound as she has the potential to go anywhere. This is Sunday morning listening at its best.

MP3 Miss Paula Flynn - Time To Kill

www.myspace.com/misspaulaflynn

-phil

“Hard Working Class Heroes organizers are delighted to announce the “Scandinavian Invasion” that will feature as this year’s international quotient. The bands have been carefully selected in conjunction with industry insiders from their various countries.

Swedish 7-piece The Concretes head the pack fill the key Saturday night headline at the Festival leading the way for a broad swathe of emerging artists from that part of the world. In spite of a series of problems The Concretes triumphed over adversity at the beginning of the summer with the own-label release of their 3rd proper album, “Hey Trouble”, which was described as “Jesus & Mary Chain swirl and sashaying girl-group sweetness”.

In full the following Scandinavian bands will play this year’s Hard Working Class Heroes festival:

The Concretes (Sweden)

A Kid Hereafter (Denmark)

Cats on Fire (Finland)

El Ray (Denmark)

The Elephants (Denmark)

The Floor is Made of Lavas (Denmark)

The LK (Sweden)

LoveNinjas (Sweden)

Marybell Katastrophy (Denmark)

Murder (Denmark)

New Violators (Norway)

Oh no Ono (Denmark)

The Radio Arts (Sweden)

Soda Fountain Rag (Norway)

Thomas Denver Jonsson (Sweden)

Tupelo Honeys (Sweden) ”

No SKWBN. *sigh*
Although-The Concretes,The LK,Oh No Ono,The Loveninjas,and a few more bands for us all to fall in love with. *hooray*
God bless Scandinavia.

The bands page over at hwch.net has now gone "live". Clicking on the band names now presents you with a mini band profile, links to band pages and a downloadable track by said band. So you can now listen to all those bands and decide who you REALLY want to see at this years HWCH. Genius. Here's a couple to get you started.

MP3 Ham Sandwich - click...click...BOOM!

MP3 Le Bien - Something Else

A gander at the HWCH myspace page also throws up contenders for the Scandinavian invasion. Kieran already posted about Oh No Ono who sit in the top friends along with fellow Scandinavians El Ray, Cats On Fire, The LK, Marybell Katastrophy, Sambassadeur, Tupelo Honeys, New Violators and Loveninjas. During some late night musings with Claire, she also pointed out that Suburban Kids With Biblical Names were at one point riding high in the top friends. Makes sense considering the love affair this country has with them, added with their close friends status with The LK. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

-phil

I first heard about Chicks when Dan did a photo shoot with them back in 2006. The original lineup released two EP's back in 1998/99. Their 2000 debut album was recorded but never released and the band split in 2001. After a hook up with Republic of Loose, Chicks reformed in 2006 with new members and new material. Okay history lesson over. After a good aul listen on myspace, Chicks are a band I'm looking forward to catching at the Pod complex. Definitely one of the more distinct acts on the bill and heck even the country, it's cool to see them back and gigging.
Listen on Myspace

-phil

One of the festival highlights of the year is nearly upon us and I'm not talking about the Picnic. Hard Working Class Heroes has been pushed forward this year and now runs from Friday 28th - Sunday 30th instead of its usual October dates. The other big "upgrade" this year is that all acts will be playing across five rooms in the Pod complex instead of spreading themselves over the usual array of city centre venues that have been used in previous years. While this will save on the travel time and probably allow you to catch more of the acts you want to see, I'm slightly concerned about the human traffic flow issue that will face organizers. Pod doesn't really lend itself to the term 'complex' with warren a more fitting term in my opinion. I suspect strict one-way systems will be in place however this didn't exactly work to full effect in last year's Spirit 'complex'. Plus there was a certain charm to HWCH taking over our fine capital for an entire weekend. Meeting and making friends with fellow gig goers between venues injected a buzz to the city on those crisp October nights that, with out a doubt, added to the festivals appeal.

My Sunday morning bitching aside there is no denying that HWCH is one of my favorite Irish festivals. And so it was that Friday just passed I excitedly read the lineup announcement. Some familiar faces (Ham Sandwich, Butterfly Explosion, Michael Knight) are present alongside the current batch of Irish blog love affairs (Fight Like Apes, Dark Room Notes, Super Extra Bonus Party). We'll be delving deeper into the lineup over the coming weeks, offering our recommendations on who not to miss. A three day pass will set you back a meager €33 and can be bought on Ticketmaster now. Roll on September Friday 28th.

Check out the current lineup here. And yes this years website gives me a headache too.

-phil

Yet another band for 2008... 200 words to convince you these guys are worthy of your time:
Here goes! Oh No Ono hail from near Copenhagen in Denmark. The first noise of them being in any way entertaining started to filter through at the start of May when it looked like we might get a summer. They take certain 80s influences into their sound but sound unlike anything else we've heard lately. The reason is that they're not ripping off post-punk or early electro but are slightly closer to anything heard on the Wedding Singer Soundtrack. They use synths but it's more of a bass driven fun disco type synth - read that last sentence a few times. Smile. You're starting to like it without even hearing them.

They land on Irish shores to play at HWCH at the end of September as part of a group of Scandinavian bands playing. This is the band that have the organisers as excited as they were with Peaches last year. We hope that people get to hear them before HWCH so they too can be excited and just have fun when they play. If they're half as good as at The Great Escape then you'll fall in love with them.

Go to the myspace and listen to "The Shock Of The Real".
Oh No Ono myspace
Guardian Unlimited article

- Kieran