Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Raw and eclectic, rich in melody and positively glowing with a dark skull-pounding energy, Veneer are what Franz Ferdinand might sound like if they had Bertolt Brecht for a frontman and miniature clones of Tom Waits for a rhythm section." - www.oxygen.ie
“A lilting, piano-led number that conjures the sense of pilgrimage, nostalgia and the rich pastoral landscape with which they are surrounded in. Mature songwriting with lovely melodies and arrangements – Isaville seems like a safe, warm and happy place place to be. A band to watch”. Danielle Brigham.
- Hot Press Magazine
“Veneer showed no such lack of bloodletting. Indeed, at times the Limerick lot seemed to venture deeper into the heart of darkness than any sane band would want to go. Frontman Ger Lane is the kind of character more likely to be found stalking superstars than socialising with them, and the music is a taut, neurotic tryst between Matt Johnston and the tindersticks… when they did crank it up it sounded like the depths of hell were opening to reveal the Velvets in all their White Light/White Heat”
Peter Murphy.
- Hot Press Magazine
“Veneer have been creating a real buzz in music circles in recent times for their unique brand of indie rock. Veneer’s sound takes from everyone from John Lennon to David Bowie, Bruce Springteen, Elvis Presley, The Cure, Lou Reed and Pulp to brew up a truly heady cocktail of awe inspiring anthems”.
Alan Jacques.
- Limerick Leader
Discography
"Walking to Isaville" (2004) (2 track single)
1. "Walking To Isaville"
2. "Lawns Are For Lying On"
Label: Veneerland
This is currently receiving Irish radio play (July).
"Popular One" (1996) (3 track single)
1. "Popular One"
2. "Love On A Double Line"
3. "I Gather Dust"
Label: Tilted
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
“We’ve created this beast, this force and there’s no running away from it even if we wanted to!”
About sums up what’s been going on. Five musicians from Limerick with influences ranging from The Bad Seeds to The Pogues to Kate Bush and back again by Paul Simon, David Byrne, Van Morrison and of course Elvis.
It’s been hatching a long time. Brewing away in the Irish countryside. Slowly the sound and the bits of the big jigsaw emerged. The songs grew from openmouthed headscratching about the meaning of life to highly focused distilled pieces of headscratching, at the same time allowing the variations and textures of Veneer to present themselves in their essence. Piano, three distinct guitar approaches, a rhythm section coming against it to chop it all up and an old organ named Betsy Haven, carried around in a made up coffin between gigs but still very much alive. Topped off with layered backing vocals and this mad attempt to ride the entertainment line between the long song and short one, the fast and slow, the loud and the quiet one.
That’s our pitch. Are you joining in?
So what is this type of writing suggesting? It’s alternative rock in genre but is there another way to communicate our soul outside of listening? Perhaps not but we’d like to think we’re making a shot at it here. It’s a stubborn beast.
Crawling out of the Irish hills. We’re setting ourselves up. Because we have to.
Come and help us understand it!
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