Supermodel Twins

There’s few things on the national airwaves about Limerick that will bring a smile to the face.
Newcastle West band, Supermodel Twins are one of them, with their crunchy, sweet power-pop debut single, ‘Footprints’.

For fans of classic guitar pop music, this is simply irresistible. The band (Thom O’Keeffe, vocals and guitar; Alan O’Keeffe, guitar and vocals; Bertie Kelly, bass; and Denny Dunworth on drums) are renowned in local music circles for their no-nonsense work ethic, and, for a debut single, the knowledge of pop history they display is breathtaking.

Not that there’s any perspiration evident on ‘Footprints’—it’s effortless inspiration for all of its three minutes and three seconds. You'll hear loads in here.

Their website tips their infectious melodies, sinful harmonies and dramatic guitar crescendos and Beatles-style swagger.

Ah yes, the dreaded ‘B’ word, but don’t go away just yet, listener! This is no slavish imitation of well trodden guitar band cliches. ‘Footprints’ is genuinely infectious stuff. The twin guitar attack gets just right that sweet/sleazy blend perfected by the likes of Bob Mould with Sugar, while the spiralling melody and engaging vocals (not to mention the bracing harmonies) grab you by the lapels and convince you that you are listening to something that is new and now. All of this is before you even get to the wryly humorous lyrics which are destined to become quoted by pop fans for some time to come.

- Limerick Independent

saw Supermodel Twins the other night in Cypress Avenue, they come from Newcastle West in Co. Limerick. American Guitar pop in a fountains/weezer nada surf kinda way crossed with Elvis Costello rocky younger brothers but from Co. Limerick.
Great pop tunes, seriously good guitar player good band would like to see them again
The are managed by Alan Jaques a man from limerick who helped The Hitchers do what they did so well.
Worth seeing and seeing you will be...they have myspace and stuff going on
- www.secondhandculture.com

But why wait for the future, because there's plenty of great music to absorb tonight . W&H are primarily here to catch notable Cork singer/ songwriter IAN WHITTY publicly launch his fine new single 'Houndstooth Shirt', but first up it seems we're in for an additional treat courtesy of Limerick's SUPERMODEL TWINS.

I'm sure it's simply W&H's own advancing age kicking in, but boy these lads are young. And hard-working, too, for their Myspace (www.myspace.com/supermodeltwins ) is laden with gigs over the next couple of months. More importantly, they've rehearsed the fuck out of their striking three minute pop grenades and proceed to lob them around liberally during the course of their all-too-short 35 minutes onstage.

Admittedly there's more of an Emo-related slant going down here than your reviewer would normally respond favourably too. Certainly the likes of Weezer and the under-rated All-American Rejects spring to mind, while singer Thom O'Keeffe even looks like an amalgam of a young Rivers Cuomo and an even younger Elvis Costello, but the Twins are harmonically superior to virtually of the Emo-pop contenders cluttering up the firmament, with songs like 'You're Not What I Need' and the deceptively melancholic shimmer of 'Love On It's Own' more than effectively demonstrating the band's melodic nous.

Besides, for all their youth and apparent Stateside preferences, Supermodel Twins often recall the best bits of the best homegrown performers from the past thirty years. You can hear faint echoes in everything from the way Alan O'Keeffe's niggly lead guitar bits sometimes recall Pete Shelley or the Tim Wheeler-style sigh in Thom's voice. Besides, when all the important things are really hitting home (like the way bassist Bertie Kelly plays all that great, counterpoint melody stuff and drummer Denny Dunworth is unflappably solid throughout) then you simply know a band have it pegged. Hell, new single 'Footprints' - which signs off tonight - not only has some of the best swerving guitars and "who-oh-oh"s around, but it eats, drinks and shits choruses to boot. Expect it to mash up Irish radio and to hear a lot more from these lads very soon indeed.
- www.whisperingandhollerin.com