Nerves who comprise of Kyle Thornton (singer/ songwriter / guitars), Charlie McCarthy (bass) and Adam Nealon (drums) are an experimental punk trio from the West of Ireland, indeed one social media sites referred to them as a noise band from Maigh Eo (Mayo) and Gaillimhe (Galway). They have built a reputation as one of the most devastating live acts over the past two years, with a consistent string of headline shows and support slots around Ireland. Their debut EP `Glórach` is released this month and has within its depths death, degradation and emigration in Ireland as themes. The literal translation of glórach is noisy. However, it has more of a connotation of outspoken rather than just loud.
There`s forty five seconds of a rather indistinguishable spoken word soundbite in `Iarthar` before this extended play really kicks in with `Empty` which has crashing guitars with a percussive accompaniment allowing vocals that veer from spoken word to a more belligerent diatribe as the track evolves and progresses closing with a pounding nigh on tribal beat with aural segments spliced through.
`Leigue` is again a blend of truculent almost combative sung and spoken reflections over a haunting soundscape with gliding crashing skewed guitar riffs that had an eerie goth like ambience. There`s much more of a melodic and instantly accessible consistency to `Thirteen` which conjured up the vibrancy of the Cure circa early eighties with their `Seventeen Seconds` album. Although the last minute becomes a little more instrumentally experimental.
`Scread Mé` is a brief compilation of interviews that seem to have no particular relation or purpose other than a palate cleanser between songs. We have a kind of jazz like intro to `Porcelain` which becomes pretty introspective with occasional explosions of controlled aural aggression. Porcelain represents human innovation and artistic expression but here it seems to hint at a craved or desired romantic love or passion.
`An Nead` runs at just over a minute and has Gaelic spoken word oration with children singing a rhyme encouraged by a Gaeilge speaking presenter. This extended play closes with `Enclosed` which has a fairly edgy ethereal kind of doom or stoner like atmosphere and becomes fairly mesmeric and hypnotic with some scorching guitar chords on route. The number itself is an almost stream of consciousness or inner monologue or dialogue shared over a sympathetic sonic sound environment.
I have to say there was a lot to enjoy and savour on Nerves debut EP `Glórach`. There are hints of bands that have obviously influenced the trio such as My Bloody Valentine, Bauhaus and The Cure, but they are certainly ploughing their own furrow. For me it was refreshing to hear something different and unlike the post-punk that seems to emerge from Ireland`s capitol city these days.
Stealing a line from an old Irish folk song “But, hark! a voice like thunder spake, the West’s awake! the West’s awake!”
Rating 8.5/10
