Music
Press
“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, dirty bass, poun www.roadrecords.com
ding drums and gritty noisy guitars, its angry and loud and possibly one of my top irish albums this year so far”
- www.roadrecords.com
“Buck-wild energy and headstrong abandon have always fuelled Limerick duo Giveamanakick on record. This time, though, Stephen Ryan and Keith Lawler have added some width and depth to the plot…fantastic wallop, oodles of atmosphere and a tightly coiled sound”
Jim Carroll
- The Ticket, Irish Times Supplement
“We Are The Way Forward combines the ugliness of brute force with the beauty of
invention…A classic”
- Hot Press
“A second sizzling instalment from one of Ireland's still-stupidly undervalued bands…It boots punk rock botty with the best of 'em, and by Christ it hurts real good!”
- www.whisperinandhollerin.com
“One of the best noisy albums to come out of Ireland in recent times… They did it - two sly fuckers from Limerick and their brilliant album” - FoggyNotions
“a reinvention of punk and hardcore from about 1970 to the present taken to its minimalist end. demented genius, so go and buy the album.” - www.thumped.com
CMJ Music Marathon 2008 Day 3: Giveamanakick
Words by Vijith Assar
Being that I’m a cynical ass and this here is a “Music From Ireland” showcase, for a brief moment I fully expected that I’d be starting this recap with a joke about potatoes, or maybe car bombs (the drink), or Lucky Charms, or car bombs (the unconscionable acts of Euro-terrorism), or the pompousness of Bono, or… well, gosh, the possibilities are endless!
So much for that plan: Giveamanakick deserve to be taken seriously. The diagonal engine-revving of the opening guitar riff caught me in the throat as soon as I walked in, and the next forty minutes were positively unrelenting. Train-wreck-in-a-box vocals, Tom Morello vertical contours, guttural kick drum rolls, and, at one point, a power chord juxtaposed against a droning high E string which were positively transcendent together, especially in this particular context.
See, the depth of arrangement was stunning for a duo, but at the same time, with just two grumbling Irishmen on stage, it was almost like a minimalist reduction of punk—the genuinely aggressive kind, not just the regional-flavor Dropkick Murphy thing. That’s still an oversimplification, though: It was too jagged and prog-rock and stuttering and, well, too admirable and difficult. I’ve met a fair number of punk rock kids over the years, and they generally can’t do anything remotely like this because they just don’t practice enough. It’s not actually loose and reckless—you just have to make it look that way.
Having discovered these guys, CMJ suddenly makes sense again. The sheer number of shows and the alarming who-the-hell-is-that ratio can be pretty intimidating, and sometimes enough to overcome even the most meticulous of logistical organization attempts. But all across the city, new under-appreciated treasures are popping up in front of music lovers as if in a game of rock-and-roll Whack-A-Mole. Eat that, Guitar Hero. I stumbled upon this accidentally, instead expecting the Autodrone set that’s going down a couple blocks away, but it’s far and away the best thing I’ve seen this week so far. I’ve been drinking sponsored-by-Red-Bulls for days, but come tomorrow morning I’ll finally be re-energized for real.
—Vijith Assar
- http://www.popmatters.com/pm/blogs/notes-from-the-road/section/cmj/P36/
Discography
Split 7' single w/ Mr.Creosote 2002
Is it Ok to Be Loud, Jesus? LP 2003
Split Christmas EP with Rest 2003
Split 7' single w/ Waiting Room 2004
We are the Way Forward LP 2005
Split 7' single w/ Berkeley 2006
Welcome to the Cusp LP 2008
Photos
Bio
giveamanakick are Steveamanakick and giveamanakeith. Having spent the past 3 years playing with various rock luminaries and music press darlings such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lightning Bolt, Dinosaur Jr, Deftones, Wolf Parade, Presidents of the United States Of America, Rocket From the Crypt, Electric 6, The Icarus Line, Ex-Girl, Electric Eel Shock, Isis, The Soledad Brothers, Unsane, Melt Banana, Liars, Zu, Black Eyes, Ministry, The Undertones and Oxbow, as well as peddling their albums Is It Ok To Be Loud, Jesus?, We Are The Way Forward , And "Welcome To The Cusp" to anybody whod listen, giveamanakick rested. Briefly. Then came an extensive UK tour with The Undertones, live TV performances, Radio Sessions, constant Local, National and International Airplay, appearances at festivals all over Europe, constant tours, and many sleepless nights
the giveamanakick way!.
So its been two years since giveamanakick launched their 2nd Album We Are The Way Forward onto the heads of the unsuspecting public. Initial reactions to the album were overwhelmingly positive, and since those first few weeks of W.A.T.W.F. easing itself (with the subtlety of a chainsaw to the face) into the publics collective consciousness, giveamanakick have been keeping themselves quite busy
Not content with having released their 2nd album a mere 3 months earlier, giveamanakick decided to hit the studio again early 2006 to record their half of the Berkeley/gamak split 7 single. A tour ensued, audiences were ecstatic, singles were sold. giveamanakick paused for a week.
Then came the support slots. In 2006 alone, giveamanakick managed to fulfill a couple of their lifetime ambitions by touring and playing in some of Irelands most famous venues with some of their favourite bands; Deftones in The Ambassador, Lightning Bolt in Whelans and Connollys Of Leap, Dinosaur Jr in TempleBarMusicCentre and The Warwick and their 2nd gig in Vicar St with Presidents of the United States of America. Good times were had, new fans were made, and We Are The Way Forward was now cemented permanently in the publics collective consciousness.
Festival time was approaching, and gamak were offered slots at Electric Picnic, Rock the Valley Fest, Mantua Lives, HardWorkingClassHeroes Festival, and the Bloom Festival. But inbetween all that, giveamanakick were presented with the prestigious Album of the Year 2005 award from one of Irelands most famous venues, the Roisin Dubh, Galway, for We Are The Way Forward. A celebratory gig was played, champagne was popped, dances were danced, and heads were sore
Performances at Electric Picnic came and went (that particular performance including the spectacle of an onstage fire breather and 10 masked dancers) and again new fans were made. Then giveamanakick made a quick trip to Hamburg to play at the Reeperbahn Festival alongside the likes of The Rapture, Radio 4, and Junior Senior!!!
We Are The Way Forward Album Reviews:
We Are The Way Forward combines the ugliness of brute force with the beauty of
invention
A classic
Hot Press
We Are the Way Forward will surprise you with its knockabout skills, unlikely hooks and wild sense of abandon
A ton of fun
The Irish Times
One of the best noisy albums to come out of Ireland in recent times They did it - two sly fuckers from Limerick and their brilliant album FoggyNotions
One of the best rackets youll hear all year! The Clare People
A big two fingers up to the world
without a doubt the best band in Ireland right now. There really is no competition. We Are The Way Forward is just that.
Limerick Leader
Proving that Irish music doesnt have to be soulless and commercial
Unapologetically loud, with an inimitable sense of humour, giveamanakick are the way forward.
www.drop-d.ie
A second sizzling instalment from one of Ireland's still-stupidly undervalued bands
It boots punk rock botty with the best of 'em, and by Christ it hurts real good!
www.whisperinandhollerin.com
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, dirty bass, 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
Is It Ok To Be Loud, Jesus? Reviews:
This is a live show in your lounge room and I cannot sit here, inertly
Links
