If there’s no underground scene in Ireland (I suggested nothing belongs and there’s no unified movement of music in the country right now), that leaves un-scenesters the culprits to blame for what we do have, a culture of lone elements all spinning off on their own trajectory. Originality merely streaks the map of Irish music, faint blazes largely unseen amid white noise of the population.

Who are the un-scene?

I’ll start at the Liffey with my first foray into the Irish underground scene. It was 2005 and I’d discovered real live music in the city by way of a gaping TwinKranes show. There was a vague scene of black denim, Humanzi and The Mighty Stef. Twin Kranes had been grouped in the same territory due to lack of information and the drummer’s hairstyle.
Friends for fifteen years and unlikely comrades at first glance, THE ROOSTER, BLONDE FOX, and AUBURN SPINNER (vocals, guitars and tape/vocals and drum set/synthesisers and soundscapes) set about destructuring respected recent musical development, drawing on alternates like electronica and krautrock to build a model of post-variations. CAN, Faust, Silver Apples, and Eno’s pioneering work were identified as fundamental blocks for transference to a single modern unit. Modernity is the key contribution to TwinKranes’ sound. They do not seek to emulate their inspiration but rather develop those influences with innate style to produce a sustainable form. By warping retrograde rock into progressive pop,  three different prongs of musical persona achieved one cohesive aim, to use their analogy – original sound built on original principles – an attack on unoriginal contemporary music.
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