We Cut Corners

Sometimes less is more. While some bands go for epic orchestral arrangements, Dublin band We Cut Corners show just how much you can do with just a drum kit and a guitar. Their excellent debut album sees them jump easily between making a glorious guitar-shredding racket (the Patti Smith-esque ‘Three People’, the poppy ‘The Leopard’ and the plaintive ‘Say Yes To Everything’) and creating perfectly crafted lo-fi folk pop (‘A Pirate’s Life’, ‘Dumb Blonde’). It’s amazing how much wonderful noise can come from combining those two instruments.
Drummer Conall and guitarist John have already been compared to The White Stripes, but they’re often a lot more interesting than that rather one-note drum-and-guitar duo. The heavier songs are exhilarating but complex – ‘The Leopard’ is a particular highlight – and even when the music is tender, the lyrics have bite. “I should have tried it when we were friends because you were much more vulnerable then,” they coo on ‘Dumb Blonde’; ‘A Pirate’s Life’ begins with the fantastic lines: “The night breaks into little parts/ And I’m reduced to stealing hearts/ It’s a pirate’s life for me”. In fact, the lyrics are great throughout, reminiscent of Belle And Sebastian at their most sweetly caustic. The band sound self-assured – and justifably so.

Some debut albums are merely promising. Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards is the sound of a band who have already arrived. - Hot Press

Sometimes less is more. While some bands go for epic orchestral arrangements, Dublin band We Cut Corners show just how much you can do with just a drum kit and a guitar. Their excellent debut album sees them jump easily between making a glorious guitar-shredding racket (the Patti Smith-esque ‘Three People’, the poppy ‘The Leopard’ and the plaintive ‘Say Yes To Everything’) and creating perfectly crafted lo-fi folk pop (‘A Pirate’s Life’, ‘Dumb Blonde’). It’s amazing how much wonderful noise can come from combining those two instruments.
Drummer Conall and guitarist John have already been compared to The White Stripes, but they’re often a lot more interesting than that rather one-note drum-and-guitar duo. The heavier songs are exhilarating but complex – ‘The Leopard’ is a particular highlight – and even when the music is tender, the lyrics have bite. “I should have tried it when we were friends because you were much more vulnerable then,” they coo on ‘Dumb Blonde’; ‘A Pirate’s Life’ begins with the fantastic lines: “The night breaks into little parts/ And I’m reduced to stealing hearts/ It’s a pirate’s life for me”. In fact, the lyrics are great throughout, reminiscent of Belle And Sebastian at their most sweetly caustic. The band sound self-assured – and justifably so.

Some debut albums are merely promising. Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards is the sound of a band who have already arrived. - Hot Press

No.1 Irish Album of the Year 2011 - The Irish Daily Star

Dublin schoolteachers John Duignan and Conall O'Breachain, better known as We Cut Corners, are without a doubt one of the most intriguing acts on the Irish music scene at the moment. In theory – short songs played on just drums and guitar; in practice – SO much more. We Cut Corners have taken a cleverly astute approach at garnering attention in the run-up to the release of this their debut album Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards. An eye-catching trio of music videos for advance singles 'Go Easy', 'The Leopard' and 'A Pirate's Life' all caused quite a stir online, featuring heavily on the blogosphere and receiving endless praise from the Irish music Twitterati. The band also gave one of the stand-out performances of Hard Working Class Heroes weekend, completely captivating the Button Factory audience tasters of what to expect from the album... and, thankfully, it has been worth waiting for.

What is so intriguing about this band is the variety they offer in spite of the instrument limitations – the stripped back approach doesn't hinder, but instead compliments and allows their impressive vocal abilities to shine. The formidable first single 'Go Easy' makes an early appearance in the track-listing - the juxtaposition of the duo's harmonies against enthralling instrumentation completely mesmerising. 'A Pirate's Life' offers the first taste of the more tender side of We Cut Corners, before the ferocious sound of 'The Leopard' is unleashed. The lone guitar backing of 'Dumb Blonde' makes for a beautiful lament, whereas in contrast they really rock it out on 'Say Yes To Everything' and 'Toll Free'. The gradual build of 'Yet' is sublime; but it's the impossibly charming 'The Male Mind' which manages to stand out on an album from which it's quite hard to single out a favourite.

The much-anticipated Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards lives up to its hype, and then some. It's concise, to say the least – clocking in at just under 27 minutes in its entirety – but We Cut Corners make every second of it count, and the album flows fantastically from beginning to end. Brilliant melodies, insightful anecdotal lyrics, and impeccable dual vocals – it's one of the top Irish releases albums of 2011. - entertainment.ie

Dublin schoolteachers John Duignan and Conall O'Breachain, better known as We Cut Corners, are without a doubt one of the most intriguing acts on the Irish music scene at the moment. In theory – short songs played on just drums and guitar; in practice – SO much more. We Cut Corners have taken a cleverly astute approach at garnering attention in the run-up to the release of this their debut album Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards. An eye-catching trio of music videos for advance singles 'Go Easy', 'The Leopard' and 'A Pirate's Life' all caused quite a stir online, featuring heavily on the blogosphere and receiving endless praise from the Irish music Twitterati. The band also gave one of the stand-out performances of Hard Working Class Heroes weekend, completely captivating the Button Factory audience tasters of what to expect from the album... and, thankfully, it has been worth waiting for.

What is so intriguing about this band is the variety they offer in spite of the instrument limitations – the stripped back approach doesn't hinder, but instead compliments and allows their impressive vocal abilities to shine. The formidable first single 'Go Easy' makes an early appearance in the track-listing - the juxtaposition of the duo's harmonies against enthralling instrumentation completely mesmerising. 'A Pirate's Life' offers the first taste of the more tender side of We Cut Corners, before the ferocious sound of 'The Leopard' is unleashed. The lone guitar backing of 'Dumb Blonde' makes for a beautiful lament, whereas in contrast they really rock it out on 'Say Yes To Everything' and 'Toll Free'. The gradual build of 'Yet' is sublime; but it's the impossibly charming 'The Male Mind' which manages to stand out on an album from which it's quite hard to single out a favourite.

The much-anticipated Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards lives up to its hype, and then some. It's concise, to say the least – clocking in at just under 27 minutes in its entirety – but We Cut Corners make every second of it count, and the album flows fantastically from beginning to end. Brilliant melodies, insightful anecdotal lyrics, and impeccable dual vocals – it's one of the top Irish releases albums of 2011. - entertainment.ie

Teachers by day and crack commandos of kinetic guitar `n' drum rock by night, this terrific Dublin duo cook up a brilliant racket on their debut. Conall Ó Breacháin and John Duignan let fly with great volleys of drums and sharp-edged guitar on an album that's always on the move, from the spiralling fury of Three People, to the archly comic Go Easy, to the thrilling punch of The Male Mind. There are moments of Villagers-like reverie on Dumb Blonde, a love song written with rueful regret, and the graceful A Pirate's Life. The shared vocals have an unhinged quality throughout, often teetering on a verge of frantic overspill and it says a lot about We Cut Corners that they manage to crowbar a mini Arcade Fire maelstrom into Say Yes to Everything. Clocking in at under a half hour in length this album of three minute gems makes We Cut Corners the most exciting Irish act since The Immediate. - RTE

(Album of the week and an Album of the Year 2011)
Three People, the opener, is short, snappy and evokes the Undertones in sound. Go Easy is a slice of New Wave pop, and A Pirate's Life is deliciously delicate. The Male Mind is a ditty reminiscent of The Immediate, that brilliant but defunct Malahide quartet, while The Leopard, the imminent single, is simply excellent. We Cut Corners have created something that will stick for all the right reasons; 2011 has finally produced its first "buzz band". - The Sunday Times (Irish Edition)

The vitality and energy of the songs on We Cut Corners' spry, spruce debut album will have you paying attention to this pair of Dublin schoolteachers. Conall O'Breachain and John Duignan's dramatic songs owe a lot to both careful craft (you can hear this in how lyrical lines have been minutely pared and parsed) and their maturing as musicians. It's to their credit that they've chosen not to accentuate the limitations of their guitars and drums set-up by simply blasting the volume, and have instead turned such minimalism into a virtue by pushing the harmonies to the fore. Three People, The Leopard and A Pirate's Life echo The Frames and Conor O'Brien in their ebbs and flows, while Go Easy is a magnificent, heartwarming thrill. There are hints of clever wit at work on the likes of Are You a Man or a Mannequin - and, better still, notions of bigger challenges and triumphs to come. - The Irish Times

The vitality and energy of the songs on We Cut Corners' spry, spruce debut album will have you paying attention to this pair of Dublin schoolteachers. Conall O'Breachain and John Duignan's dramatic songs owe a lot to both careful craft (you can hear this in how lyrical lines have been minutely pared and parsed) and their maturing as musicians. It's to their credit that they've chosen not to accentuate the limitations of their guitars and drums set-up by simply blasting the volume, and have instead turned such minimalism into a virtue by pushing the harmonies to the fore. Three People, The Leopard and A Pirate's Life echo The Frames and Conor O'Brien in their ebbs and flows, while Go Easy is a magnificent, heartwarming thrill. There are hints of clever wit at work on the likes of Are You a Man or a Mannequin - and, better still, notions of bigger challenges and triumphs to come. - The Irish Times

‘Bright harmonies, dastardly hooks and sharp-as-a-pin lyrics…We Cut Corners have all of the above in droves’ - The Irish Times, Jim Caroll

The Irish music scene (a term itself hated and loved in equal measure) has always had its denigrators; seemingly more so every year. That’s why it’s so refreshing to find a truly interesting act tramping the boards, one that’s different from the norm yet not deliberately so, one that makes you sit up and take notice. We Cut Corners is just such a band. Carried by the strength of the drummer/lead singer’s voice and his quirky songwriting style, and supported by the single guitarist’s ability to create a racket bigger than any five-piece set-up, their live acts are so exciting as to suck in any crowd, not to mention inspire this writer to large bouts of hyperbole. Having recently released their debut EP and working on their next, this is the perfect time to jump on the We Cut Corners bandwagon. - Le Cool Online Magazine

The Irish music scene (a term itself hated and loved in equal measure) has always had its denigrators; seemingly more so every year. That’s why it’s so refreshing to find a truly interesting act tramping the boards, one that’s different from the norm yet not deliberately so, one that makes you sit up and take notice. We Cut Corners is just such a band. Carried by the strength of the drummer/lead singer’s voice and his quirky songwriting style, and supported by the single guitarist’s ability to create a racket bigger than any five-piece set-up, their live acts are so exciting as to suck in any crowd, not to mention inspire this writer to large bouts of hyperbole. Having recently released their debut EP and working on their next, this is the perfect time to jump on the We Cut Corners bandwagon. - Le Cool Online Magazine

These Dubliners are a minimalist guitar-and-drums set-up sound like Bright Eyes after he has elbowed his way into The White Stripes. Take a listen to We Cut Corners’ superb Pirate’s Life song. It’s the sound of a band who aren’t stuck in an indie quagmire and (unlike so many of their contemporaries) don’t offer up a re-cooked version of The Stooges or The Strokes. You could imagine Emmylou Harris covering Pirate’s Life – and how many Irish bands can say that? - Irish Times

'Two-piece We Cut Corners are lyrically intoxicating' - James Hendicott

'We Cut Corners' set is compromised of short but perfectly formed indie-gems: catchy chorus after catchy chorus. Though sparsely arranged We Cut Corners are not missing a single note.' - State.ie

'We Cut Corners' set is compromised of short but perfectly formed indie-gems: catchy chorus after catchy chorus. Though sparsely arranged We Cut Corners are not missing a single note.' - State.ie

"A breath of fresh air with a vitality and uniqueness that grabbed me immediately" - The Stranglers

"A breath of fresh air with a vitality and uniqueness that grabbed me immediately" - The Stranglers

"We Cut Corners effortlessly succeed in achieving mind-blowing brilliance with a collection of clever, highly charged, emotional tracks...since winning the JD set in 2010, the band have evolved into one of the most compelling acts currently peddling their wares on these shores." - Hotpress Magazine

"We Cut Corners effortlessly succeed in achieving mind-blowing brilliance with a collection of clever, highly charged, emotional tracks...since winning the JD set in 2010, the band have evolved into one of the most compelling acts currently peddling their wares on these shores." - Hotpress Magazine

Armed with just a guitar, drums and amazing vocals the Dublin pair have managed to create this beautifully minimalistic and varied sound. - Fiona Donnellan

Armed with just a guitar, drums and amazing vocals the Dublin pair have managed to create this beautifully minimalistic and varied sound. - Fiona Donnellan