giveamankick

giveamanakick's second album We Are The Way Forward manages to capture their visceral live energy and wash of distorted guitars without taming the effect. The performance here is exuberant and lively and good fun. It comes off as an accomplished rock album, calling to mind early Von Bondies and Queens Of The Stone Age. There are riffs aplenty here, played with such ease that they are a pleasure to listen (and jump around) to.
4/5
Edel Coffey
- Sunday Tribune

Music is not an exact science. It's a living, breathing thing and that's why we remember great gigs probably more than great records. It's also why Giveamanakick's second album bucks the trend and gives you that much sought after visceral thrill. Recorded in one six-day burst, it is the sound of two people, a bunch of instruments and the sheer power of rock 'n' roll. Flowery words for such a raw record, I know, but it does provoke that kind of reaction. A huge step forward from their debut, which itself was pretty nifty, We Are The Way Forward combines the ugliness of brute force with the beauty of
invention. The recording process may have been swift, yet they obviously worked hard at the songs before going into the studio - often these kind of records grow tiresome halfway through, but here the focus is maintained. The lyrics are spot on, taking a swipe at a range of subjects with a vicious eye for detail, especially the music scene itself: "Hey rock 'n' rollers, get up early, have a good breakfast...preach to the jaded, the twice converted". The influences are obviously American ("you're Thurston for Moore") but the duo put enough of themselves into the music to sound almost unique. Giveamanakick then - wrote it, recorded it, fucked off. A classic.
NINE/TEN, HOT FOR 2006
PHIL UDELL - Hot Press

In terms of melodic noise and stylish clatter, the second album from Limerick duo Stephen Ryan and Keith Lawler is the kind of euphoric racket which will put a smile on most gobs. Punk rock by way of the usual suspects, with a big dash of loopy humour thrown in to add fibre and roughage, We Are the Way Forward will surprise you with its knockabout skills, unlikely hooks and wild sense of abandon. It certainly betters their debut album (Is It OK to Be Loud, Jesus?) because the duo have added finesse to the mix. A tune like Bobby Dazzler launches with Hüsker Dü-like bravado before finding new metallic legs and running for the hills. But its not all heavy-duty wattage: there's a pop heart stirring in Hatch 77, while explosive chords turn Pocket of Silence into a roaring storm. A ton of fun.
4/5
www.outonalimb.com - Jim Carroll - The Ticket, Irish Times Supplement

Aside from having one of the best names around, Limerick's giveamanakick (no capitals, please) announced themselves with one of the fiercest debuts to grub around in the indie margins in recent times with 2003's delightfully scabrous "Is It OK To Be Loud, Jesus?".
Indeed, anyone who got caught in the brain-flaying melee of that record without prior knowledge would struggle to believe that such mighty thunder was being kicked up by merely two individuals: namely guitarist/ vocalist Stephen Ryan and drummer/ vocalist Keith Lawler. Christ, weren't two-piece bands supposed to follow the White Stripes blues-y, minimalist blueprint, not make the sound of a thousand cement mixers churning at once?
Well, clearly no-one bothered to tell Messrs.Ryan and Lawler before or after the event, because with long-awaited follow-up (I assume the gap stretched to two years plus because of Ryan's fascinatingly skewhiff Windings project) "We Are The Way Forward", their uncompromising sonic attack has been intensified rather than neutered in any way.
Indeed, the opening salvo of tracks makes it clear that GAMAK have been storing up reserves of pent up aggression just for us. If anything, the wired and adrenalised opener "Bobby Dazzler"s furious, perpetual motion riffing even eclipses debut album highlight "Ger Canning" and finds Stephen in curiously liturgical mood, howling fascinating stuff like "Why save yourself from yourself? It's nothing to do with what's left of the soul!" Well, absolutely. If this isn't frenetic enough for you, then the ensuing "Grabbity - all supercharged beats and massive funky riffs and kind've like a hellish amalgam of the Gang Of Four and Black Flag - boots you relentlessly in the balls and the club-footed Glam riffs and amped-up desperation of "Let God Touch Your Children" (sample lyric: "I'm a fast car driving at night with no lights on!") makes a mockery of the idea of GAMAK needing something as wimpy and inessential as a (cough) bassist.
This being giveamanakick, there's naturally still reserves of tongue-in-cheek humour going down, especially in the musical sense. "Hatch 77", for example, suggests that the obvious foil for broiling guitars and steamhammer drumming must be handclaps (but of course!), while "Sick From Motion"s initial staccato-style riff sounds like a post-rock "My Sharona" before the inevitable Math-Rock tempo changes kick in, and Ryan's malevolent whisper of a vocal on "Aquaplaning" finds him vowing hilarious stuff like "I wanna be more marketable, I wanna save the world, just like...Bono." Besides, name me any other hardcore noiseniks likely to name one of their tunes "Non-Emo Outsiders"? That's enough to get a star from this reviewer all on it's lonesome.
Nonetheless, lyrically it's still fear, disappointment and a general disenchantment with human nature that dominate and resonate in many of GAMAK'S best songs. "Spit"s manic bitten-off punk, for example, finds Ryan wapping himself up in the revulsion of the lines "the crowds they spit, the crowds they pity you, people don't look people in the eye anymore"; the super-cynical, but brilliantly observed "Red Faced Killers" ("last night I made a killing, it was cruel but functional/ and I like the way it happened under your nose, so I'm going to the funeral, 'cos it makes me feel alive, ha ha ha!") matches the sneery hypocrisy of the lyric with a boastful testosterone rush of a musical backdrop and may be one of the very best things Ryan and Lawler have done to date.
Typically, they go out like a lion as well, with the snarling, soul-scouring set-piece that is "Suffer The Gowls". For non-Irish readers, this title could refer to goblins, fools or an important part of the female anatomy, and though the lyric refers to "Good old Catholic guilt", I still think it would be unwise to stick my neck out here. Suffice it to say, though, that it's the sound of two young lads getting seriously hot under the collar and losing themselves in the intensity of the moment for the good of us all.
"We Are The Way Forward", then, is a second sizzling instalment from one of Ireland's still-stupidly undervalued bands. Stephen Ryan may sing slightly ruefully of "standing on the toes of giants, they've got steel toe-caps, but I'm still trying" on "Sick From Motion", but that doesn't mean giveamanakick's furious rock'n'roll ever fails to connect here. It boots punk rock botty with the best of 'em, and by Christ it hurts real good!

Tim Peacock


- www.whisperinandhollerin.com

FOUR & A HALF STARS
Several years ago the Limerick duo of Stephen Ryan and Keith Lawler put out an effective, although low-key debut album of thumping drums and guitar hardcore. More recently, Ryan diversified with his Windings projects, featuring a spread of gentle acoustic songs, electronics and droning indie-rock tunes.
Now Ryan and Lawler are back in partnership for the second Giveamanakick record and holy fuck this is one of the best noisy albums to come out of Ireland in recent times. "Grabbity" is mighty; a dizzying rush of filthy guitars crashing off machine gun drums. Ryan's voice is exceptional, bursting with Limerick brogue and grimacing lucidity. Inspired use of jew's harp too. And straight into "Let God Touch Your Children", and that stuttered Queens of the Stone Age style meter. Of course, if Josh Homme wrote this, the world would be wetting itself. "Hatch 77" mirrors ghosts of the Smiths in melody and the Wedding Present in sound, as Ryan reveals himself to be the angriest pop-kid in Ireland.
The song that should make Giveamanakick famous is "Red Faced Killers". Ryan spits dementedly: "I'm going to the funeral, cos it makes me feel alive", before breaking into a mucky cackle. If that tune doesn't work, then surely no one could resist the irresistibly catchy "Aquaplaning" featuring Lawler's awesome tribal breakdown and Ryan's acerbic and hilarious chorus. Or the pointed aggro vocals, razorblade pop riffs and surging wall of noise of "Sick From Motion". I could go on. Just suffice to say they did it - two sly fuckers from Limerick and their brilliant album.
4.5/5
Leagues - Foggy Notions

The second album from this Limerick based outfit and they just get better with every release, blistering punk rock sounds meets garage rock and the stop start elements of the likes of Fugazi. The production is simply superb for the music inside, harking back to the classic sound of all those great albums on the likes of the am rep label etc, pounding drums and gritty noisy guitars. Its angry and loud and possibly one of my top Irish albums this year so far. - www.roadrecords.com

www.myspace.com/giveamankick - the media

www.giveamanakick.com for album and live reviews plus promo material, photos etc - barry stewart