Welcome Punching Peaches to Blowtorch Records | New Galway band | West Coast Ireland record label
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Welcome 'Punching Peaches' to Blowtorch Records

Galway experimental trio deconstruct post-punk and reassemble it in their own warped image

 
Galway band Punching Peaches

Galway is officially 'The City of Tribes'. Unofficially - the city of torrential rain, lots of it. And there must be something in that West coast water, as it seeps into the synapses of unsuspecting heads who then form brilliant bands or solo acts.


Consider if you will a small city of eighty thousand windswept folk which has produced Mary Coughlan, The Stunning, Tracy Bruen, Toasted Heretic, The Saw Doctors and Oh Boland. The last few years have seen a remarkable renaissance of commercially successful music with The Clockworks, LAOISE, Slyrydes, NewDad and Turnstiles all flying high.


It's like Manchester in miniature. As Tony Wilson memorably said: "In the North West it rains and rains. And yet we managed to produce the best music, the Industrial Revolution, the trade union movement, the Communist Manifesto and even the goddam computer. Down South, where the Sun never sets, you took all our money and what did you produce? Chas and fucking Dave." Fair point well made Tony.


The next great band on the West Coast music scene is Punching Peaches and we're delighted that they have decided to join Blowtorch Records. In my head at least, Galway's equivalent to Factory Records.


Punching Peaches are frontman and guitarist Conor King, Naoise Jordan Cavanagh on the drumstool and Jack Sinnott on guitar/bass and general technical wizardry. And what a glorious sound the three of them produce!


Their first single Wristwitch saw the light of day in April 2021 and it immediately captured even my woefully inadequate attention. They call their music experimental/post punk - I would go for more of the former than the latter. And the punk part is down to their authentic DIY attitude of recording and producing their own music in their industrial estate rehearsal space (featured in the Maggots video below). They combine this with their own eclectic tastes, creating a sound which explores any and every era of music, possibly including that which is yet to happen.


It is an extraordinary debut single. Bold and confident with nods to The Black Keys (those thumping drums), 60s garage rock and psych, yet also hitting the Gen Z zeitgeist. And an assured grasp of song dynamics and production techniques.


de Mars Magazine commented in their review "Wristwitch is a song with a bopping chord progression, some interesting stops, a thick bassline, and driving drums, perfect for the summer of 2021. Fans of this genre need to put Punching Peaches on their watchlist."


The glorious racket that is second single Maggots soon arrived, closely followed by me clamouring for them to join Blowtorch Records. One very pleasant afternoon in a Galway cafe and a read of our manifesto later and the deed was done. Though not signed in blood in the Factory mode. Just not appropriate in these times of Covid.



There's loads of Peaches action coming up with a third single nearly ready to go, amongst plenty of other cool stuff. I'm so excited to see what this talented trio come up with next. So let it rain. Oh the water, let it pour all over me.


Punching Peaches on Instagram Punching Peaches on Spotify

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