We Were Giants

"This is just a lovely, lovely track, big, big production, very, very lush… It’s difficult to get this sound right but they just hit the absolute sweet spot and it’s so important to do that." - Rigsy

“I really like this. It’s kind of difficult to do something that melodic and heartfelt and lush without it sounding kind of trite or cheesy, but I think they walk that line quite well here. It reminds me of The Antlers. It’s impressive really good” - Chris Jones

“WOW! What a tune!!!” - Rob O'Connor

First and foremost, what the hell is that cover all about? I can’t be the only one seeing tampons smoking cigarettes around a table holding what certainly resembles a turd? Surely not?

Luckily though, what’s to be found under the artwork, is anything but a turd. No doubt, that will be no consolation to We Were Giants for having turds mentioned thrice in this review. Sorry lads.

Colm O’Loughlin, Ste O’Loughlin and Danny Farrelly are Dublin’s first former giants. ‘Part One’ is their aptly-named first EP, and a strong one at that.

Don’t let the delicate opening to Vampires lull you into a false sense of security. Anyone increasing the volume thinking the quality is bad, are in for a deafening shock. The raspy opener is delivered with a quivering guitar and bubbling synths that suit Colm O’Loughlin’s vocals to a tee. He delivers a pop-punk chime, and the distinct feeling that this track belongs on a teen movie soundtrack. But even then, it’s less than this track deserves. A sophisticated melody actually wants to lead the song somewhere, side-stepping any accusations of a generic, or indeed juvenile, sound. Think; the ramblings of a five-minute Arcade Fire track, if they went a little ska. With its ups-and-downs, there’s a lot more to this track than it wants you to believe, evident in the hidden tinge of an ambient, new wave influence.

Not slowing the pace, She Said maintains an upbeat vocal, solidifying the Arcade Fire comparisons, while sounding completely unlike Arcade Fire. It’s more, Arcade Fire, painted over with a matte layer of My Chemical Romance, slamming some Foo fighting riffs. Their influences are worn on their sleeves, but Part One is far from a sloppy exercise in imitation. O’Loughlin’s voice simply has the unique quality of echoing a collage of his contemporaries–listen out for a voice and you’ll hear a hint of it.

The Messenger is slower, with clearer vocals over a dust of simple guitar. O’Loughlin’s voice shows its true range, while rough, swaying harmonies bring a welcome mix-up within the EP, until it quickly picks the pace up towards the end of the song. Much of the lyrical content deals with the typical young adult stuff: separation, love (although falling in love with the message when ‘you’ were the sender is way harsh). In a similar lull, is Acoustic Song, sticking to the ‘plainly named’ protocol–it’s exactly that, an acoustic song, with nothing much else to it. ‘Oooohs’ are scattered over playschool-esque keyboard, like teardrops on a xylophone, falling under sentimental lyrics and the insincerity of a high-pitched vocal.

Closer WarWren is more like it. The angry, atmospheric storm draws comparisons to peers, More Than Conquerors—both heavily influenced by similar bands. There’s a build-up that doesn’t really go anywhere, but just waiting for the ‘anywhere’ is part of the appeal. Rich layering of riffs and a trusty breakdown, ends the EP on a note of authority and confidence.

It’s crazy to think that this wasn’t professionally produced. While there’s nothing entirely innovative in ‘Part One’, this collection is catchy and pleasant enough to enable We Were Giants to begin to scratch at your radar.

Now, where’s Part Two? - Goldenplec.com

asily one of the most exciting and impressive pop-rock bands to emerge from the Irish capital in some time, We Were Giants are a young three-piece based in Dublin. Produced, recorded and mixed at home, the five tracks making up their debut EP, Part One, each play a part in forming this punchy and passionate release. While Colm O’Loughlin’s towering vocals and the infectious chorus of opening track ‘Vampires’ makes for an early start-stop highlight, it’s ‘She Said’, conjuring the likes of General Fiasco, and their main influences Biffy Clyro and Foo Fighters, that really stands out. Equally as zealous, ‘The Messenger’ and (the admittedly not-so-imaginatively titled) ‘Acoustic Song’ are more restrained efforts; well-constructed acoustic musings rounding off this compelling debut EP release. Brian Coney - Brian Coney - AU Magazine

Who: We Were Giants, w/ Holy Ghost | Holy Grail

Where: Whelan’s, Dublin, Ireland

When: November 29th, Midnight Hour

The underground music scene has become a huge love affair again for the first time since the 90’s. Most of the bands who originate on the indie scene (to use its literal term of independent) prefer to do things their own way in the end, even if they are offered a record deal. Many acts have been high profile for independent artists, but nothing has added excitement to underground rock music of Ireland like We Were Giants.

Originated from Dublin and Offaly, Ireland, the quartet hit Dublin’s well-known and well-loved venue Whelan’s to play the Midnight Hour accompanied by support act Holy Ghost | Holy Grail. The band set up as a three piece in October 2011, and became the four-piece they are today in the Summer of 2012. The band, who’s members are Colm O’Loughlin (vocals/lead guitar), Ste O’Loughlin (rhythm guitar/vocals), Danny Farrelly (bass guitar/vocals) and Jay Maleney (drums/vocals), have released 3 EP’s over the course of the year, including a Christmas EP, an Acoustic Promo, and their most popular EP, part one. With only three EP’s up their sleeves, you wonder how could a band be as stellar as they are.

On the night, each member of We Were Giants had, quite obviously, their own role on the night, but not one person was out of the spotlight. Stand-out member was vocalist and lead guitarist, Colm O’Loughlin, blew away the crowd with his vocal abilities. Inside that talented voice-box of Colm’s was Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, and at times, Kelly Jones.

The energy on stage between the four was nothing short of heart-warming. Every so often, glances and smiles would be exchanged between each member, almost as if they were feeding off one another’s energy and passion. It’s amazing to see a band be so connected with one another, and to see that they want to do this for the rest of their waking days.

Highlights of the set-list include the definite radio hit single “She Said,” a stupidly catchy-in-a-good-way song with similarities to General Fiasco; “Satellites,” a dreamy song that Chris Martin could’ve written, if either Thom Yorke or Damien Rice were to sing it; and of course, “WarWren” that has those passionately-blasting vocals delivered by Colm. It was difficult to tell that these boys have only been working together as their official four-piece for only a handful of months, as they showed no stage fright, talked to the crowd throughout the night, and threw off this ‘we know what were doing’ attitude.

Drummer, Jay Maleney, stood out of the back of the stage, although the drummers are known to be behind the spotlight, he killed that stereotype. At one stage during the night, if you looked at Maleney, you would see Dave Grohl in the Queens of the Stone Age music video for "No One Knows". Passion was not running dry that night, to say the least.

There’s a rule of thumb that if you are reviewing an unsigned, unknown band, you compare their sound, techniques and skills to musicians or bands of a higher recognition to inform the reader. I’ve reviewed a handful of unsigned bands and musicians, and never in my year of writing have I had so much difficulty in pinning down on who these guys sound like. In each song, you can hear elements of many different musicians, bands and genres meshed together to create their own unique sound. That night you could hear Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Canterbury, Sonic Youth, Blink-182, Twin Atlantic, Stereophonics, The Verve, Bloc Party, Biffy Clyro and Jimmy Eat World. This unique ability to not only absorb the sound and the energy from their favourite musicians, but they reproduce it to make it their own, and this is a gem to find in the music industry, and even more in the unsigned music scene. These boys don’t realise how talented they are, as their humbleness stays true when off stage, in comparison to their explosion on-stage.

Will you hear these guys on your side of the world away from their native Irish lands? There’s only one answer: You will.


Setlist: We Were Giants

· This Is Silence
· Satellites
· All I Want
· WarWen
· The Messenger
· Life Without A Tear To Fall (Unplugged)
· Tree Song
· [Interlude]
· She Said
· Hey You
· [Interlude]
· Vampires
· This Is It
- Polly Beans

Dame st. was glowing with warmth as an unusually eh.. summery? summers day was coming to a close last Friday (3rd August 2012) evening. Upon entering the candle lit Mercantile venue there was a sense of something I hadn't expected, relaxation and calm. The lads of We Were Giants were greeting people at the door in their typical down to earth and polite way, if you had not have heard these guys before you would probably have been expecting some light acoustic tunes, maybe even a Bon Iver cover.

Inevitably the soft candle light turned out to be just the trick as the first support act took to the stage and it wasn't a million miles away from Bon Iver either... Seasoned pro Mark Geary delivered in typical fashion with a set of soft thought provoking tunes, finishing with a ruff and gritty belter.... Even Colm O'Loughlin added to the set combining his vocals with Gearies to make the worlds smallest (but just as effective) vocal choir.

Next up was Radio Friendlies with their power pop sound. It wasn't hard to tell the last few albums this band listened to before they wrote the songs that made up there set.... riffs mirroring the likes of Feeder, Nirvana and Pixies were rampant in there songs, so much so it was easy to mix up a lot of them with covers. They're bassist seemed uninterested at times, with shy vocals that hardly had any impact. However they were tight that's for sure, with a confident front man too. With a bit of fine tuning they could have potential, but they'll need to dig deep for something fresh.



We Were Giants next and all of a sudden the candlelight seemed to fade, replaced with stage lights and darkness. Anyone who was eagerly awaiting a taste of what was to come after Part One (WWG's debut E.P.) was to be satisfied immediately, as "the giants" opened with a new one... "Satellites". If this tune is a sign of the future for WWG then the future looks bright indeed. It was also a first look at their shiny new drummer Jason Maleney who took over from Ger McGauley just a few months ago. Jason was solid and looked the part too, I think he will fit in nicely with the lads. He teamed up well with Danny "Foreskins" Farrelly, who's reliable and strong bass lines blended perfectly with the guitars. The brothers Colm and Ste O'Loughlin were like a tag team on the mic taking turns introducing songs. Together the two created a gig worthy of a much bigger stage, with riffs, harmonies and hooks that could hold their own against ANY other band in Dublin today. It wasn't long before they swooped into fan favourite "Vampires" along with a set full of other Part One hits, finishing with the climatic "This is it"..... A two part ballad that starts epic and ends with an explosion of guitars and vocals, definitely one of there best. A monster ending to a monster set. These guys are a must have for your music collection and it would be well worth keeping an eye on their tour dates too. It remains to be seen whether they will in fact be giants, but with a set like this it would take a monster to stop them! - Mind Roar - Kevin O'Brien