Sunday Tribune
giveamanakick
We are The Way Forward
OutOnALimbRecords
4/5
giveamanakick's second album We Are The Way Forward manages to capture their
visceral live energy and wash of distorted guitars without taming the effect. The performance here is exuberant and lively and good fun. It comes off as an accomplished rock album, calling to mind early Von Bondies and Queens Of The Stone Age. There are riffs aplenty here, played with such ease that they are a pleasure to listen (and jump around) to.BRAZEN-headed Limerick two-piece Giveamanakick enjoy punching above their weight: what they lack in numbers they make up for in chutzpah.
Calling your sophomore effort We Are The Way Forward is a ball¬sy statement, and maybe a little too in-your-face for an already hype-jaded audience. It leaves the band open to a more severe backlash than their more effete peers, whose natural instinct is to not get the listeners back up before they've even listened to the CD. No one likes a braggart and such cocksureness would seriously grate if the music wasn't up to their outlandish claims. Mercifully it is.
Perched somewhere between the raucous punk rock of Fugazi, the punchy, pummelling of Death From Above 1979 and the
gruesome twosome noisemonsters Lightning Bolt, Giveamanakick have carved out a furious follow up to their debut record, Is It Ok To Be Loud, Jesus?
And they're only from down the road. Not that being parochial has anything to do with review¬ing music, but it's refreshing to hear an Irish band with the bit between their teeth, letting rip and not pandering to the expec¬tations of an audience spoon-fed FM music day in, day out.
We Are The Way Forward dis¬plays its garage rock ethics with pride; the guitar and drums duet is abrasive, the vocals delivered in a bellicose Limerick yelp, the lyrics dictate a typically jaun¬diced worldview - 'People don't look people in the eye anymore' is one throaty clarion call. It's a loud, headstrong record, but
never ragged. Opener 'Bobby Dazzler' sets the tone with some high-voltage rawk riffage. The glam-stomp of 'Let God Touch Your Children' warms the spir¬its. 'Suffer The Gowls', as well as being as sprightly finisher, has the word 'gowls' in the title, which immediately garners a big thumbs up.
We Are the Way Forward is a juggernaut fuelled by face-melting riffs and powerful drum flurries. There are a couple of unnecessary moments, and the physical exhaustion demanded by headbanging for almost forty
minutes can be a drain. These are slight oversights on what is one of the best rackets you'll hear all year.
Four/Five
Mark Keane
The Ticket
GIVEAMANAKICK
We Are the Way Forward
Out on a Limb
* * * *
In terms of melodic noise and stylish clatter, the second album from Limerick duo Stephen Ryan and Keith Lawler is the kind of euphoric racket which will put a smile
on most gobs. Punk rock by way of the usual suspects, with a big dash of loopy humour thrown in to add fibre and roughage, We Are the Way Forward will surprise you
with its knockabout skills, unlikely hooks and wild sense of abandon. It certainly betters their debut album (Is It OK to Be Loud, Jesus?) because the duo have
added finesse to the mix. A tune like Bobby Dazzler launches with Hüsker Dü-like bravado before finding new metallic legs and running for the hills. But its not all heavy-duty wattage: there's a pop heart
stirring in Hatch 77, while explosive chords turn Pocket of Silence into a roaring storm. A ton of fun. www.outonalimb.com - Jim Carroll
www.whisperinandhollerin.com
'giveamanakick'
'WE ARE THE WAY FORWARD'
Our Rating:
Aside from having one of the best names around, Limerick's giveamanakick (no capitals, please) announced themselves with one of the fiercest debuts to grub around in the indie margins in recent times with 2003's delightfully scabrous "Is It OK To Be Loud, Jesus?".
Indeed, anyone who got caught in the brain-flaying melee of that record without prior knowledge would struggle to believe that such mighty thunder was being kicked up by merely two individuals: namely guitarist/ vocalist Stephen Ryan and drummer/ vocalist Keith Lawler. Christ, weren't two-piece bands supposed to follow the White Stripes blues-y, minimalist blueprint, not make the sound of a thousand cement mixers churning at once?
Well, clearly no-one bothered to tell Messrs.Ryan and Lawler before or after the event, because with long-awaited follow-up (I assume the gap stretched to two years plus because of Ryan's fascinatingly skewhiff Windings project) "We Are The Way Forward", their uncompromising sonic attack has been intensified rather than neutered in any way.
Indeed, the opening salvo of tracks makes it clear that GAMAK have been storing up reserves of pent up aggression just for us. If anything, the wired and adrenalised opener "Bobby Dazzler"s furious, perpetual motion riffing even eclipses debut album highlight "Ger Canning" and finds Stephen in curiously liturgical mood, howling fascinating stuff like "Why save yourself from yourself? It's nothing to do with what's left of the soul!" Well, absolutely. If this isn't frenetic enough for you, then the ensuing "Grabbity - all supercharged beats and massive funky riffs and kind've like a hellish amalgam of the Gang Of Four and Black Flag - boots you relentlessly in the balls and the club-footed Glam riffs and amped-up desperation of "Let God Touch Your Children" (sample lyric: "I'm a fast car driving at night with no lights on!") makes a mockery of the idea of GAMAK needing something as wimpy and inessential as a (cough) bassist.
This being giveamanakick, there's naturally still reserves of tongue-in-cheek humour going down, especially in the musical sense. "Hatch 77", for example, suggests that the obvious foil for broiling guitars and steamhammer drumming must be handclaps (but of course!), while "Sick From Motion"s initial staccato-style riff sounds like a post-rock "My Sharona" before the inevitable Math-Rock tempo changes kick in, and Ryan's malevolent whisper of a vocal on "Aquaplaning" finds him vowing hilarious stuff like "I wanna be more marketable, I wanna save the world, just like...Bono." Besides, name me any other hardcore noiseniks likely to name one of their tunes "Non-Emo Outsiders"? That's enough to get a star from this reviewer all on it's lonesome.
Nonetheless, lyrically it's still fear, disappointment and a general disenchantment with human nature that dominate and resonate in many of GAMAK'S best songs. "Spit"s manic bitten-off punk, for example, finds Ryan wapping himself up in the revulsion of the lines "the crowds they spit, the crowds they pity you, people don't look people in the eye anymore"; the super-cynical, but brilliantly observed "Red Faced Killers" ("last night I made a killing, it was cruel but functional/ and I like the way it happened under your nose, so I'm going to the funeral, 'cos it makes me feel alive, ha ha ha!") matches the sneery hypocrisy of the lyric with a boastful testosterone rush of a musical backdrop and may be one of the very best things Ryan and Lawler have done to date.
Typically, they go out like a lion as well, with the snarling, soul-scouring set-piece that is "Suffer The Gowls". For non-Irish readers, this title could refer to goblins, fools or an important part of the female anatomy, and though the lyric refers to "Good old Catholic guilt", I still think it would be unwise to stick my neck out here. Suffice it to say, though, that it's the sound of two young lads getting seriously hot under the collar and losing themselves in the intensity of the moment for the good of us all.
"We Are The Way Forward", then, is a second sizzling instalment from one of Ireland's still-stupidly undervalued bands. Stephen Ryan may sing slightly ruefully of "standing on the toes of giants, they've got steel toe-caps, but I'm still trying" on "Sick From Motion", but that doesn't mean giveamanakick's furious rock'n'roll ever fails to connect here. It boots punk rock botty with the best of 'em, and by Christ it hurts real good! Tim Peacock
www.drop-d.ie
GIVEAMANAKICK - 'We Are the Way Forward'
On their first album, Giveamanakick asked the pertinent question, Is it OK to be Loud, Jesus? Judging by the ferocious opening riff of new album We Are the Way Forward's first track,
'Bobby Dazzler', it appears their prayers may have been answered. However, given the duo's propensity for ear-splittingly loud live sets, I doubt that even divine intervention could stop Limerick duo Keith Lawler and Steve Ryan from creating anything other than devilishly noisy rock songs. Creating a fiercer racket with two members than perhaps even the Melvins did with three, Giveamanakick seem intent from the offset on giving their listeners a sharp boot in the ear – and hell, you know you're going to like it.
On each successive track Giveamanakick bombard the listener with heavy, pulsating rock, each song as easy to dance as to headbang to. At times one can pick out blues, punk, and inevitably metal influences amongst the onslaught of in-your-face riffs, although surprisingly, the final track,
'Suffer the Gowls' ends quietly, much in the vein of of label-mates Waiting Room's post-rock sound. Perhaps they decided that after 38 minutes of in-your-face rock, it was time to give the listener a brief moment to catch their breath before hitting the
'play' button once more. After all, although the album features a mandolin, banjo, and keyboards, all the tracks are drum and guitar heavy, with the duo pounding out song after song of vicious heavy rock in their trademark, louder-than-fuck style.
On each track vocals are shouted, even spat, as Steve's lyrics barrage the listener with images ranging from the religious in
'Let God Touch Your Children', (which I can only presume is heavily ironic!) to murderous confessions in
'Red Faced Killers', where each short verse is punctuated by creepy, unnerving laughter.
'Aquaplaning's' delicious appeal for 'rock and rollers' to "Get up early, have a good breakfast, then do your hair" proves that Giveamanakick have, as their name would suggest, a decent sense of humour and irony, not least when in the same song they shout
"I wanna save the world, just like…Bono." But Bono these dudes certainly ain't – you won't find a polished, Top 30-ready pop song on We Are the Way Forward, proving that Irish music doesn't have to be soulless and commercial, and that independent record labels like Limerick-based Out On a Limb can release great rock albums on a fraction of the budget that Louis Walsh probably has for his bands' hairdos. If you like your music unapologetically loud, with an inimitable sense of humour, created by an independent band on an independent label, then Giveamanakick are the way forward. Just don't say I didn't warn you about bleeding eardrums. Aoife Barry
Limerick Leader
Giveamanakick - We Are The Way Forward - (Out On A Limb)
NOT content with having already released one of the best albums of the year
Steve Ryan (Windings) returns to the day job with Giveamanakick and fast
drumming man Keith Lawler to deliver an album packed with charm, attitude
and balls with a Capital B.
The boldly titled We Are The Way Forward, the second album from Limerick¹s
totally awesome Giveamanakick rocks like Armageddon. This forceful mother of
an album is a million miles away from Windings chilled out lo-fi noodlings
and instead opts to rock proper hard. You would swear these hardcore
noiseniks locked Therapy? Metallica, Black Flag, and Fugazi into the studio
and refused to let them out until they put down these tracks. It¹s hard to
believe that what you are actually listening to here is just two guys and
not the heavy metal supergroup equivalent of the Reindeer Section.
On the follow-up to Is It OK To Be Loud, Jesus? Giveamanakick have created
something dark and oppressive filled with self-loathing and schizophrenic
sloganeering. "The crowds they spit/ the crowds they pity you/ and people
don't look people in the eye anymore" spits Steve on, ahem, Spit.
We Are The Way Forward which was recorded over six days is intensely barbed
and viciously precise. It is a fine album of angular metal-punk full of
granular guitar sounds, pummelling drum rhythms and continuing feedback
which would create a nauseating effect if it wasn't for the splendid mix of
dissonance and catchiness throughout. Playing live with the likes of The Undertones,
The Presidents of The United States of America, The Icarus Line, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and
Electric Eel Shock, in the last two years, certainly has done nothing to mellow the
Giveamanakick sound. Aurally they are as ferocious as the hounds of hell - all
foaming and frothing at the mouth.
On their new album the band have managed to perfectly capture the frenetic
energy, the wilful mayhem and the sheer noise of their live performance.
Opening track Bobby Dazzler is a blistering riff-tastic romp which washes
over you like napalm. Grabbity with its paddywack psychobabble vocal and
funky guitar lick takes off at breakneck speed then slaps you around the
face with a lyric that for some bizarre reason leaves you with a stupid,
cheesy grin even though you know it shouldn't. "Won't forget your past in
this town/ Going nowhere fast in this town," chants Steve like an escaped
mental patient.
Let God Touch Your Children, one of the best tracks on the album, is a
heady, punky bastard of a song that sways around drunk, kicking over the
furniture and gobbing on your carpets. This is the kind of monster of a tune
that Motorhead would have given their eye teeth for back in the day.
Hatch 77, (named after an undeserving local rock band (no offence), is an
intricately paced number that lightens the mood slightly. Not for long
though, as Steve and Keith give us another unmerciful hiding on The Taking
with its choppy sedated guitar pattern reminiscent of those found on
Therapy's Babyteeth album.
The relentless onslaught of rip-roaring riffs and drum rhythms so solid you
could build a house on them continue on Pocket of Silence, the punk-tastic
Spit and Red Faced Killers. While Aquaplanning with its Song 2 'woo-hoos'
sounds like Adam Ant jamming with Fugazi. Pure class it is too.
Most bands open their records with their three best tracks and try and wing
it from there hoping we won¹t notice the filler covering the cracks for the
rest of it. But these cocky little beggars manage to maintain the quality
from start to finish and even have the audacity to close the album with Sick
From Motion, Non Emo-Outsiders and Suffer The Gowls, three blinding tracks
worth the admittance price alone.
Lyrically Giveamanakick display caustic wit and a rare insight into the
apathy of the 21st century life on We Are the Way Forward.
On Red Faced Killers, Steve bellows amid a feast of lunatic chuckles and
guffaws: "Last night I made a killing it was cruel but functional/ And I
like the way it happened under your nose/ So I¹m going to the funeral/ Cos
it makes me feel alive."
This punk rock anthem sees Giveamanakick give a big two fingers up to the
world before concluding with the skin-crawlingly creepy admission, "I don't
regret doing these things/ I just regret telling people" - a line so barbed it
gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
They even give us a lesson on how to become a marketable rock star on
Aquaplanning. "Hey rock and rollers!/ Get up early/ Have a good breakfast
then do your hair," quips this crazed beast of a songwriter. I've said it
before and I'll say it again, Steve Ryan is a man bordering on bloody
genius!
Giveamanakick are without a doubt the best band in Ireland right now. There
really is no competition. We Are The Way Forward is just that. All hail the
new kings in town! Alan Jacques
Foggy Notions
GIVEAMANAKICK We Are The Way Forward (Out On A Limb)
by Leagues
FOUR & A HALF STARS
Several years ago the Limerick duo of Stephen Ryan and Keith Lawler put out an effective, although low-key debut album of thumping drums and guitar hardcore. More recently, Ryan diversified with his Windings projects, featuring a spread of gentle acoustic songs, electronics and droning indie-rock tunes.
Now Ryan and Lawler are back in partnership for the second Giveamanakick record and holy fuck this is one of the best noisy albums to come out of Ireland in recent times.
"Grabbity" is mighty; a dizzying rush of filthy guitars crashing off machine gun drums. Ryan's voice is exceptional, bursting with Limerick brogue and grimacing lucidity. Inspired use of jew's harp too. And straight into
"Let God Touch Your Children", and that stuttered Queens of the Stone Age style meter. Of course, if Josh Homme wrote this, the world would be wetting itself.
"Hatch 77" mirrors ghosts of the Smiths in melody and the Wedding Present in sound, as Ryan reveals himself to be the angriest pop-kid in Ireland.
The song that should make Giveamanakick famous is "Red Faced Killers". Ryan spits dementedly:
"I'm going to the funeral, cos it makes me feel alive", before breaking into a mucky cackle. If that tune doesn't work, then surely no one could resist the irresistibly catchy
"Aquaplaning" featuring Lawler's awesome tribal breakdown and Ryan's acerbic and hilarious chorus. Or the pointed aggro vocals, razorblade pop riffs and surging wall of noise of
"Sick From Motion". I could go on. Just suffice to say they did it - two sly fuckers from Limerick and their brilliant album.
www.roadrecords.com
GIVEAMANAKICK WE ARE THE WAY FORWARD OutOnALimbRecords
The second album from this Limerick based outfit and they just get better with every release, blistering punk rock sounds meets garage rock and the stop start elements of the likes of Fugazi. The production is simply superb for the music inside, harking back to the classic sound of all those great albums on the likes of the am rep label etc, pounding drums and gritty noisy guitars. Its angry and loud and possibly one of my top Irish albums this year so far.