Irish quintet Spies have released two singles to date, "Liars Call Me King" in 2010, and "Barricade" a year later. They're signed to
local label Trout Records and intend on releasing their debut EP this November.
It's been a difficult few years for Irish bands, apart from the independent
release of MBV earlier in the year, the biggest thing to come out of Ireland
has been the HDI figures and 1/5th of One Direction. Spies have a distinctive
post-punk sound, instead of the dreary progressions and hard hitting
emotions of the 80s, Spies belong to a firm group of expanding indie rock artists.
Since their debut single "Liars Call Me King", Spies have learnt the
enduring aspect of cramming five minutes worth of post-punk in to three
minutes. There are plenty of bands making this sound, most with help from
electronics. Spies are doing this knowing the post-punk genre's market is
fading away in to nostalgia, but creating the music for a bright future of
faster, louder, and grunge-like indie rock.
"November Sun" carries on the deep rhythm guitar progressions of "Barricade", but with emphasis on the accompanying lead guitar. This track reminds me of early The Twilight Sad singles, such as "That Summer, At Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy". They're taking the softer direction of shoegazing, and aiming it towards an indie rock audience who are currently gripped on the nostalgic post-punk sound reciprocated farm hype like Palma Violets. "November Sun" is a sustainable single for Spies. It has the drive post-punk/indie rock needs to combat negative analysis, with a structure well-formed to keep the song from drifting into anonymity. It's a tricky genre to overcome in the early to mid-10s, as many bands have experienced in the past five years. We've seen some ex-post-punkers return to the genre they left, and failed miserably - Editors. Others have sat on top of gold mines like The Twilight Sad, who became a Radiohead wannabee with their latest album, but it's a successful album nonetheless. Spies' debut EP needs to be worthwhile in a genre which is becoming less distinctive and interesting as the years progress.
"November Sun" carries on the deep rhythm guitar progressions of "Barricade", but with emphasis on the accompanying lead guitar. This track reminds me of early The Twilight Sad singles, such as "That Summer, At Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy". They're taking the softer direction of shoegazing, and aiming it towards an indie rock audience who are currently gripped on the nostalgic post-punk sound reciprocated farm hype like Palma Violets. "November Sun" is a sustainable single for Spies. It has the drive post-punk/indie rock needs to combat negative analysis, with a structure well-formed to keep the song from drifting into anonymity. It's a tricky genre to overcome in the early to mid-10s, as many bands have experienced in the past five years. We've seen some ex-post-punkers return to the genre they left, and failed miserably - Editors. Others have sat on top of gold mines like The Twilight Sad, who became a Radiohead wannabee with their latest album, but it's a successful album nonetheless. Spies' debut EP needs to be worthwhile in a genre which is becoming less distinctive and interesting as the years progress.
~Eddie
