DUBLIN, IRELAND (Top40 Charts/ Popical Island) Popical Island will release a double A-side 7' single by Patrick Kelleher and Squarehead on 28th October. Featuring one song 'Just A Tragedy' written and sung by Patrick Kelleher and another song, 'Attention To Detail', written and sung by Roy
Duffy from Squarehead, both tracks were performed, collaboratively, by Squarehead and Mr. Kelleher. One of Popical Island's star producers, Fiachra McCarthy of Pantone247 renown, recorded and mixed the whole enterprise. The limited vinyl release will be launched at a gig in the Grand Social (Liffey St., Dublin) that night, with performances from both acts.
Because of the special nature of this release, it will be available only on 7' vinyl at the gig, and thereafter from selected record stores, including Tower, RAGE and HMV Grafton St. in Dublin, Plugd in Cork and the Bell Book & Candle in Galway. It will not be available as a download.
It's an understatement to say that this is an exciting collaboration. Both acts have just recently released brilliant albums to considerable acclaim: Patrick Kelleher in July with 'Golden Syrup' (abetted by His Cold Dead Hands) and Squarehead in September with 'Yeah Nothing'. Both acts are on the cusp of something great. Both acts are alarmingly handsome. And both make unique, great music.
But that's where the comparisons end, because, although Patrick and Squarehead have been friends for some time, you really couldn't find two acts with more contrasting styles. It could have all gone terribly, terribly wrong. But thankfully the merging of the two differing aesthetics has resulted in a distinctive, coherent whole; two elegant, beautiful songs. On 'his' track, Patrick has taken a detour from subversive synth darkness towards the land of bops and sun, while on 'their' track, Squarehead have eschewed grungey indiepop for '80s-inflected synth sounds and Japan-esque reverb.
The result? Patrick Kelleher sounding a bit like Squarehead and Squarehead sounding a bit like Patrick Kelleher, and both sounding as great as you might hope.
Patrick Kelleher biography
Patrick Kelleher & His Cold Dead Hand's critically acclaimed album 'You Look Cold' was released on Osaka Recordings in 2009. A remix album followed in 2010 called 'You Look Colder'. It featured remixes from Jape, Hunter-Gatherer and Legion Of Two. A single, 'Contact Sports' followed on Skinny Wolves, accompanied by a brilliant video. The second album proper, 'Golden Syrup' was released in Ireland on July 15th 2011, and worldwide on September 12th 2011. Moving on from the previous more DIY/lo-fi sound, the band embraced a more gothic, minimal synth sound. Reminiscent of lesser known early 80s electronic pioneers such as Robert Rental and John Foxx, the band also drew comparisons to the hypnagogic pop of such contemporary artists as Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and John Maus.
'spookily brilliant, and brilliantly spooky' - Paul Lester, The Guardian
'Golden Syrup is too strange to be universally appealing, yet there's something so deeply intriguing about it that you will keep returning in a bid to unravel its mysteries.' - The Irish Times
'Golden Syrup is more nuanced than its predecessor taking in gothic noir electronica, spectral pop, woozy '80s synthesizers, 'whacked-out ghost disco', 'kraut-disco' and Italo-influenced numbers.' - Nialler9.com
'a darkly danceable and frequently enthralling listen.' - State.ie
Squarehead biography
When 'Fake Blood' first appeared on the first Popical Island compilation in 2010, it quickly became clear that Squarehead were something special. Voted as the year's best song on Nialler9.com, the track is just one of the many pop nuggets on the band's just-released album on Richter Collective, 'Yeah Nothing' . 'Yeah Nothing' is quite simply one of the most thrilling displays of classic pop know-how you're likely to hear. No surprise, really, since these hooks have been stuck in the Irish underground scene's collective head for the last 18 months or so. A three-piece who take their cues as much from Nirvana as from the 50s and 60s hitmakers with whom they're often compared, Squarehead have bagged the essence of American pop songwriting in a way that very few are capable of doing.
'slack as fuck' - The Irish Times
'Squarehead are a Wipers-inspired take on Phil Spector sensibilities. All 12 tracks — songs about girls, boredom, rock and roll, whiskey-induced adventures — could be singles.' - Liz Pelly, the Portland Phoenix, review of 'Yeah Nothing'
'Yeah Nothing is a dozen tracks of no-nonsense slacker indie pop, a fuzzy collection of lo-fi rock 'n' roll inspired by surf-pop, old school rock 'n' roll and bright guitars.' - Nialler9.com
