Circus of Seven, 'Angry Birds'
Info: When I had this album sent to me yesterday I was not prepared for what I heard. There are a lot of different types of music floating about at the moment from electronica to synth-based, indie to alt-rock, remixes of this and that etc. but when I listened to Circus of Seven it felt like a breath of fresh air. While musically they are self-admittedly influenced by Alice in Chains, Biffy Clyro and Queens of the Stone Age, and I acknowledged to myself that they reminded me a lot of late 80's / early 90's hard rock. The thing is, no one, especially in Ireland, is explicitly making music like this at the moment, or for as long as I can remember, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard an Irish band who embraced this style so wholeheartedly before in the way Circus of Seven do. Another thing that immediately struck me is how professional and well-produced this is for a debut album, evidence perhaps of the trio cutting their teeth in a variety of other bands over the years.
On the music side of things the (slightly!) quieter tracks remind me of Pearl Jam around Vitalogy and even a bit of Danzig's self-titled 1988 album, and on the delightfully heavier tracks Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger. Front man Eamonn O'Neill's vocals, on 'Howl', for example, have me sitting in front of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged set, and then on other tracks such as 'Black Dolphin' the theatricality of Alice Cooper comes through in his personality. Another stand-out track for me is 'Neighbour' below, which captures the sound Molloy, Croke and O'Neill have spread throughout the album, hard-hitting rock and metal. It's been a long time since I've been to either a dingy pub or a large venue and seen a crowd lose it properly, I can imagine that might all be about to change, although, at present, Circus of Seven have no live dates planned, when announced, it'll be something I'll be eager to see. I even caught myself doing the sign of the horns with my hands and I'm only listening to it in my living room. There's not a single bad or filler track on Sunday School Show, with 'Modern Warfare' and 'Sharks' securing the album's quality, I don't know who needs who more, Irish music venues or Circus of Seven.
Circus of Seven, 'Neighbour'
Circus of Seven are Sean Molloy (drums), Conor Croke (guitar) and Eamonn O'Neill (vocals), the Wexford men's first album, Sunday School Show, is due for release on the 31st of October.
Look / Like / Listen / Follow:
Webpage: http://www.reverbnation.com/circusofseven
Bookface: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Circus-Of-Seven/574220149282730
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/circusofseven
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CircusOfSeven
