Four singles in and recording a new EP, we are delighted to bring you their glorious, grinding, noise punk energy
Japanese Jesus are a two-piece act from County Limerick made up of Bertie Kelly (vocals, guitars and bass) and Denny Dunworth (drums). After working with them on the release of their last single Bus Weirdo (reviewed here), we are delighted to extend our collaboration leading up to the release of an EP in Autumn 2022.
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Bertie and Denny previously played under the guise of Supermodel Twins in the noughties, recording their debut album with Noel Hogan of The Cranberries on production duties.
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Their sound now is much more alternative and punk. Or as Dan Hegarty said on his RTE2FM show "... grinding wonderful noise ... I love it".
Their debut single, Facilities, produced by Mike Gavin (Windings, The Cranberries) and mastered by Richard Dowling (Foo Fighters, David Bowie, Brian Eno), was released in August 2021 and received rave reviews from those in the know. They have since released three further singles: Progress, Liver and most recently the brilliant Bus Weirdo.
At this point it is worth quoting the Bus Weirdo review from Turn Up The Volume blog in full:
"Holy smoke! All burners on, all cylinders, no brakes. This sucker punch punk bolide speeds like a nasty Queens Of The Stone Age juggernaut. Its brutal kamikaze guitars and its ruthless drums/bass tandem go through the roof. It took this rowdy duo only 160 seconds of breakneck ruckus to make me a Japanese Jesus believer. This holy harum-scarum haymaker will convert you. Don’t miss this bus, all you weirdos out there."
I think you get the picture.
In a recent interview Bertie asserted "The biggest influences for me would be bands like Metz, Show Me The Body and probably the biggest is a London band called USA Nails. Highly underrated band, but at the same time they have a very loyal following."
He continued "I have played in bands since my teens with some great musicians, and always had an obsession with music since as far as I can remember. Think my earliest memory of that obsession is Roy Orbison. Just loved everything about it. Always loved a good vocal melody and a catchy hook."
And we love a melodic rush of distorted noise. As Stephen from The Pastels said "plug your guitar in and believe anything can happen."
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