REMY: EP: Feuds

Photo: Day Twenty Three Photography

Info: Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow band Feuds released their debut self-titled EP this weekend, the grunge-infused indie-rock band avoiding all of the clichés that often come as part and parcel of the genre. Too many indie rock bands tend to look towards popular U.K. or American acts for a template of ho they should sound, thankfully here this is not the case.

I really enjoyed opener 'Longer Days' a lot, it has that classic shed out in the back garden feel to it, vocals are a bit shoe-gaze, the rock is raw and gets heavy without ever over-cooking it, I like all of these things. There is also a bit of a Northern sound that you expect to find more from bands from Belfast, but rarely elsewhere on the island right now, it's nearly 5 minutes long but doesn't feel like it at all, that swooping guitar slide as it reaches its close is highly enjoyable.

At the start of last month we featured single 'Nothing to Happen Next' on one of our Irish independent playlists, noting; "Feuds provide an outlet that would be sorely missed on the Irish music scene were they not in existence. The Wicklow alternative-garage rock quartet create a space where you can just drop of the edge of the world from, exemplified by latest single 'Nothing to Happen Next'. An appropriate title, as their lackadaisical and slow-burning sound is so disarming it makes you want to just bask in the track and beyond without thinking about the outside world." This is absolutely a feature of the EP, that nonchalance of sound, whilst also happily being able to crank up the fuzz as required.

Following the drowned-in-sound see-saw of 'When Is October 6th?' we arrive at another track which dips its toes in a knee-jerk math-rock rhythm with 'Late Forties, Early Fifties'. Again that rawness and distant muffled vocal are accompanied by catchy looped guitar riffs. Coming up to the 1:30 point of the track Feuds change gears and drive that rock motion home, which is repeated across the track, it is a highly gratifying moment.

The EP closes with 'Left Behind', we're in the shed again, staring at one another, gentle note progressions on the guitar and woozy percussion drift like a conscious plume of smoke as the ever so slightly off-kilter beat joins the fray. Half-way through you're thinking 'This is a proper slow-burner', but lo and behold, that locomotive rhythm kicks in once again, it's like a ska dancefloor shuffle and is quite energising. My final thought is very clear, this is a very, very good debut EP from Feuds, there aren't so much hints as to what could come in the future, but concrete evidence, scattered regularly across the EP, and I want to listen to it again this week, next month, next year, it's a go-to piece of music for a certain mood.

Feuds play The Workman's Club to officially launch their EP this coming Thursday with support from Drivelight and Segrasso. Info here.