Supergroups 1.2

  1.2..? Yep you've guessed it, here's a few more names about to seriously rock up the music world with their own personal , mind bending , time signature and octave altering takes on immensly brilliant sound. Here is also further proof as to why Ireland is fast becoming the independant music capitol of the world...

  Port Loaise (pronounced 'port leash' ) has recently aquired two claims to fame in placing itself as 'a big player' in the world of music. The first reason for its townspeople to swell with pride is in the towns hosting of The World Fleadh Music Festival for two years in a row. It's second reason is for it's gifted singer and songwriter who has recently been described as 'Irelands greatest export'. So while U2, Glen Hansard and the Frames/Swell Season etc are tearing it up and wowing audiences in the States they should savour every moment, because once the US gets wind of this new musical talent there is a very strong possability that their limelight could become eclipsed. Gary Dunne is already turning heads worldwide and he's also been having sellout concerts on a regular basis in recent wanderings throughout the UK. After watching our two featured videos it won't be too hard for anyone to see why.

 April 08 saw the release of what must surely be one of the best and most original albums of the year. It also marked the begining of a video venture with 'Honest Records' and his growing worldwide fanbase to create a simple yet very effective video for 'Simple Truth', the title track for the new album which, after countless fan submissions, was soon released on April 29th.

 The new songs from Gary have been inspiring the most prolific reviews and adulation wherever they have been heard...most notably by Hot Press (Irelands main music mag) where one writer on the team was transformed into a modern day Yeats after just a few bars (and perhaps 'a jar or two' also) of Gary's simple audio enriched truth - check Gary's MySpace page for the five star article which is also just happens to be one of the best pieces of musical journalism of the year so far too.

  But if you watch the video you may very well notice a comment from a certain cool cat that reads " I prefer Gary's older stuff ". After wandering what this could possibly mean we did a little bit of digging which very quickly turned up this next video from a small, cosy , yet explicitly loud and live rocked up performance at Irelands eistmusic - another festival also held in Port Loaise recently. The song is 'American Folk Song' and Gary's rendition will get your blood pumping and easily get you 'realy realy high' in it's electrifying rythum without the need for the use of any chemical additives of any kind whatsoever...and there aren't many songs that can do that!

  For further news on the astounding new album and talent of Gary Dunne then check his MySpace and band site at the following links....

  Gary's MySpace Gary's band site

  Once you've picked all your jaws up off the floor you might well be wandering how we can top Gary's performance? Good question, so we thought we'd opt for a change of pace and genre. Mention the words 'Irish punk' and immediately conjured up into most peoples minds are the raucas noise and energy that are the Pogues; unfortunately it also tends to conjur up images of the countless utterly talentless fake immatators of McGowan, Chevron and co that still haven't figured out that the only reason that Pogues punk earned so many platinum and triple platinum discs was because it was Shane McGowan, Phil Chevron etc etc. The Pogues style belonged solely to the pogues and no one else in the world should even attempt it unless of course they want to share the same level of musical credability that most would award to an Elvis impersonater in a holiday camp Kareoke. So does this mean that Irish Punk is dead? is there any hope left?

  When it comes to Punk, wherever there is lots of Noise there is hope or...especialy if your from Cork...Hope Is Noise.

Semi -finalists of the 2007 Murphy's Live competition Hope Is Noise have done what all true punk rockers truly aspire to do and that is to quite simply do their own thing their way. This probably explains why their tracks even go against the standard 'punk' grain with the inclusion of complex melodies to act as a kind of musical cotton wool to help more sensative listeners swallow it whole...but once it reaches the gut you'll soon feel your insensativities being kicked apart by the full musical force of their steel toecapped Dr Martens. At a 'make or break' concert in the not so distant past the crowd laughed, teased and taunted them when they came on stage with words like "know any Nirvana then" , so on went their steely musical toecaps to promptly boot and blast their taunters into the last century. Now, after numerous successful tours that also included Americas west coast 'Hope Is Noise' are now about to take control of the next century. We've featured their recent video for 'Two Gods Short Of A Trinity' with plenty of clips from their recent travels ...and you can also order their debut ep's and debut album direct from their MySpace here...

Do you remember our comment on Supergroups 1.1 about musicians who could sit professionaly in any area of music? Well our next artist has been doing just that for a number of years and is being likened by some in the UK as a modern day Irish musical version of Phil Collins. Anthony Noonan, otherwise known as Anto or Armoured Bear has, for a number of years , sat professionaly in the role of a drummer for a succession of bands and artists from Cork to Dublin - often being the sole drummer for two or even three bands at the same time. Upon joining rock group Lerner in 2005 (see Supergroups one), his influence and percussive genius was instrumental in the formation of their unique sound making Lerner's sound the most promising and professional of it's genre scince the formation of The Frames in the early nineties (see A Tale of Two Films and Gigs of the Month) - and we all know how successful they've been since the turn of the century! But Anto is also an exceptional songwriter and guitarist in his own right and has built a far reaching fan base of his own with a debut album entitled 'faster' in 2003 with numerous solo tours and concerts in recent years. His forthcoming album 'Honeycomb Moons' started out as an acoustic project that has progressed into a band with a diverse range of instumentaly stirring tracks. There is a 'folkiness' to his lyrical style and vocals that might bring back memories of Tir Na n'Og (Eire's 60's and 70's answer to Simon and Garfunkel with similar styles of acoustic melody though a deeper and more artistic lyrical style) but his musical compositions give all his songs a relaxing and modern authenticity of their own.The new albums, singles, videos and websites also combine to make what must surely become a multi award winning piece of animation and design by Aoife Greenham's ' Melinko Productions ' team.

  The entire project is a very high quality work of art . We featured the 'debut' single and video from the 'Honeycomb Moons' album entitled 'Imagination' which should be available to order from Armoured Bears MySpace page and available from iTunes on June 6th 2008. The album (which like the single has had it's release date put back a few times) will, unfortunately not be available until September 2008. However, the good news is that when the new album does reach the shops it should also have an extra bonus disc full of 'live' tracks taken from Anto's recent 'Nightgarden tour' with fellow Armoured Bear guitarist and vocalist Liam Ahern. For more on the wonderfull world of the 'His Dark Materials' inspired Armoured Bear of Anthony Noonan then visit the following links to his groundbreaking website and MySpace page.

  Official Armoured Bear site

  Armoured Bear MySpace

  Here's another new band ready to astound new listeners with their musical abilities...Black Daisy. Ireland has long had a tradition of cosy all girl (or in The Corrs case -nearly all girl) bands that find their way to the forefront of of the industry, but Black Daisy are simply nitro glycerine on stage and they'll blow any preconcieved ideas you may have on Irish girlbands right out of your tiny little minds...they also have a lead guitarist ( Steff Caffrey) capable of giving Irish rock god Gary Moore a run for his money too! Their official site is still under construction but there are some excellant sound samples up and running on their MySpace page which could (thankfully) start a 'disturbing new fashion' in female Irish rock bands.

  If you're a male (or female) with a congenital heart defect then we would

strongly advise that you don't watch the video of them in action to the right.

If, however you are a male (or female) and are wandering what it would be like to

have a congenital heart defect then be our guest....the chances are that even if

you're immune to hard rock riffs, their performance will still manage to 'take you

 over '. Singles, albums, downloads and tours are on the way so keep an ear out

for Black Daisy in the coming months....and forget everything you think you know

about Irish girls and rock music because you won't find these ladies at the ICA for

a good few years yet . For more on Black Daisy check their MySpace below...