The Goo 1
CHRISTIAN WETHERED Scene News Borderline DAVID CA
RR Borderline 2.0 In our review of the year, many of our resident scribes looked to last years’ Borderline Festival as the event of the year time and time again. It may be a journalistic trope, but hand on heart, this year’s event promises to be one for the ages. This next wave of International and Irish acts are hugely exciting, occupying much of my top 10 must see acts this coming year. Let me give you a flavour of what’s available and who could be your next favourite band. Honeyglaze The South London trio are still riding the crest of the wave of their astounding second album Real Deal inspired by Evander Holyfield of all things. Creativity shines in vocal delivery, time signatures & song structure. Personal Trainer I caught this brilliant Dutch collective at the end of 2023 where amidst the euphoric chaos, tracks like ‘Milk’ and ‘Key of Ego’ had the crowd eating out of their hands. They’ve added a whole new album to their repertoire with Still Willing arriving in August. Pale Blue Eyes Their debut Souvenirs and follow up This House planted themselves near the top of the respective year end lists courtesy of their very appealing sound. Sitting in an intriguing Venn Diagram, part Indie/Post PAGE 10 Punk/Electronic/ Shoegaze and Pop they should find friends in most quarters. Opus Kink Operating in a similar sphere to DEADLETTER and Maruja (and you know how well they go down in Dublin) they have all of the same vim and vigour with their sax infused funk/ punk. I can pretty much guarantee a sweaty good time. Plantoid Brilliant band that fuse prog and jazz and, with the amazing voice of singer Chloe Spence, they touch on bands like Curved Air, Cocteau Twins and Stereolab in their cosmic soup sound. Mould Mould are a Bristol Punk trio. Freshly signed to 5dB and with their spectacular new single ‘Chunks’ just released, they’ve locked into the spirit of post hardcore giants Fugazi, bringing that DIY ethos, a raft of complicated riffs and the loud-quiet-(extremely) loud sound which should win them many friends. Mount Palomar Having thrilled the crowds at Berghain and with a fondness for ‘90s rave culture, it’s possible The Workman’s could turn into a warehouse party at some stage courtesy of this superb Belfast producer. Automotion Formed by school friends Jesse Hitchman (Vocals/ guitar) and Lennon Gallagher (Vocals/ guitar) they don’t seem to have been unduly burdened by the latter’s father Liam also being in the industry. They’ve been steadily dolling out a stream of high quality rock from the off, be it of the math, prog or shoegaze variety. CLT DRP Pronounced CLiT DRiP, this trio arrived from Canada, Greece and Southampton meeting in Brighton University. Their punk ethos is infused with electronics, nowhere more so than on their latest excellent single ‘Until You Showed Me’ which gives off peak Yeah Yeah Yeahs vibes. PVA This UK trio found me an instant fan on the back of tracks like ‘Bunker’ and ‘Hero Man’ from their debut album Blush. Their alluring sprechgesang delivery and hybrid dancefloor sound proved irresistible at times. Fans of The Umlauts, Chalk or Owls should make a beeline to the stage. Dog Race These could be the sneaky pick of the festival. The London quintet have only four singles out but they’re all