Popical Island #2 – 18 Band Launch Gig, Whelans 25th June

Popical Island mark the release of their second compilation album with an all day gig in Whelans on Saturday June 25th, featuring performances from all 18 bands on the compilation.

Popical Island, the Dublin-based pop collective, will release its second compilation on 25th June 2011. Featuring 18 songs by a mixture of the core Popical Islanders and a hand-picked selection (the selection machines went on the blink) of some of the best independent pop makers in Ireland, it exhibits a range of styles and approaches, with each track steeped in the shared DIY values of resourcefulness, hard graft and having fun. A free-admission, all-day-and-into-the-night extravaganza in Whelan’s on Saturday, 25th June will herald the release. Once again, the CD will be hand-packaged in a fetching cardboard sleeve individually painted and stamped by members of the collective. Better yet, a series of exclusive badges has been designed, one for each act on the compilation. Punters will have the option to purchase a CD at the launch gig, or else purchase a random selection of these badges to wear with pride or swap with their friends, along with a download code for the music.

Where Popical Island #1 introduced the world to the likes of Squarehead (back again with the beautiful Candle), Tieranniesaur (they serve up the dark grooves of Here Be Monsters) and Feed the Bears (partially represented on PI#2 as members of Hired Hands), the new compilation earns its scouting stripes with songs by some of Ireland’s most exciting new bands. The case of Goodly Thousands is an interesting study in Popical Island genealogy: the band played its first ever gig at Popicalia (the collective’s monthly club night), while Kiss Me Upside-Down, their first band recording, was recorded by Popical Island co-founder Padraig O’Reilly in Jonny Fun’s kitchenette. Meanwhile, Rhino Magic is 20-year-old Joseph Kielthy from Wexford, whose electro-pop belter Shaken evokes the pre-69 Love Songs Magnetic Fields. Retarded Cop will be familiar to internet-users as the demented punk-pop baby of DJ Gaz le Rock, and he’s delivered a face-melting eponymous tribute to the collective’s aforementioned monthly club night.

There is a strong current of strangeness running throughout: witness the bizarre guitar break in opening song The Locals by Ginnels, the baroque psychedelia of Anne’s Birthday by Groom or the warped glam of Yeh Deadlies‘ Hung Like a Noose. Still pop nuggets abound, be it the manic energy of Grand Pocket Orchestra; Land Lovers‘ luxurious story-pop; or the gorgeous skip of Walpurgis Family‘s contribution, Something Wild. Brilliant cuts from We Are Losers, Jonny Fun & the …Hesitations, Michael Knight, Pantone247, Hello Moon and Sea Pinks jostle for space too.

It’s worth noting that this is a showcase of DIY music: none of these songs were recorded in professional studios. Many of them are bespoke recordings, made by members of the Popical Island Collective in various practice rooms, living rooms and shoe boxes around Dublin with the express purpose of readying them for this compilation. They’re very proud of the whole thing and they hope you enjoy listening…

03-Goodly Thousand – Kiss Me Upside Down by popical_island

12-Grand Pocket Orchestra – MrImaginative by popical_island

About Popical Island:

Popical Island is a small, hard-working indie pop collective based in Dublin. Formed by the bands Land Lovers, Yeh Deadlies and Groom in late 2009, it also is home to some of Ireland’s most exciting indie-poppers, including Tieranniesaur, Squarehead, Pantone247 and Walpurgis Family. Its 18-odd months of existence has seen Popical Island become a byword for the melodic end of Ireland’s independent music renaissance. Having released the Popical Island #1 compilation in June 2010, the collective has since gone on to curate its monthly club night, Popicalia, and embarked upon the first of its Popical Island mini tours in the UK. Albums have been released by Yeh Deadlies, Groom, Walpurgis Family, Big Monster Love and Jonny Fun and the …Hesitations. There will be further releases in 2011 from Tieranniesaur, Land Lovers and Walpurgis Family, and also a Patrick Kelleher/Squarehead split 7″.

Popical Island #2 Launch Gig
Saturday 25th June
2:30pm, Upstairs at Whelans, Free Admission

http://popicalisland.tumblr.com

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