Silverbacks are set to release their debut album on 17th July via Central Tones after a slow stream of singles on Soundcloud dating back to 2015. 

It’s this laidback approach that births the creativeness and holds the resilience of the band. They’re able to take a step back and not take themselves too seriously, it opens them up to a unique style of observational sardonic storytelling.

Silverbacks are a Dublin five-piece, but there’s no traditional rock organ filling the fifth position to be found here, just a beautiful composition of three layered guitars. And although these layers sound great holistically, they each tell a separate tale with every new listen.

The 00’s Esque, sharp snare drums and backbench bass drums carry this album from start to finish - apart from the title track, Dunkirk, a progressive assortment of aggressive drums and synchronized fisticuffs between the three guitars that tell the story of an imagined scene of a man in the near future having a midlife crisis in a beach resort built on a former warzone.

Pink Tide is a perfect example of the band's ability to marry a mash-up of sounds to create the captivating, distinctive voice of the Silverbacks. It shows that they’re now ready to bring bigger, more daring projects to the forefront and you should be excited.

There’s a lot of momentum in Drink it Down, a soon-to-be crowd favourite I’m sure. It’s these sorts of tracks that have you longing for festival season and spilling half of that £6 lager you just bought to dance around like a prick. And apologise half-heartedly to the couple behind you that you just soaked. But they don’t mind either, cos it was banger.

Emma Hanlon (bass guitar/vocals) chiefs the vocals on two of the tracks in Fad. It displays their flexibility and active approach to stepping outside the template - if there was any. Klub Silberrücken, with the haunting guitar wails and diving bass work tremendously with Hanlon’s airy vocals and is actually a fave of mine.

“‘ere, what does this sound like?” 

“I’d say, Travelodge punk..” 

“Cool, that’s what we’ll call track 7”

On Leo Varadkar turning 40...

Up The Nurses has an essence of Blondie, which you do not expect to find listening to first few tracks of the album. And if it's not inspired by this geezer above, then I'll be disappointed.

The album isn’t filled with anthems, but the history of the band shows that was never the plan. They’re inspired by groups with a history of development and experimentation, not generic pop beats almost scientifically engineered to be liked.

Madra Uisce, which translates literally to water dog, but refers to Otters is an unexpected, yet very welcome addition to the album and really unpins their signature sound through the three guitars.

Silverbacks are on a journey, maybe not the wildest one, but sometimes they’re the best journeys. Just because you aren’t intentionally searching for crazy things, doesn’t mean they won’t find you. Fad could be the catalyst that adds some urgency to the band, and if so, I’d be prepared with an ounce more drive behind them (or even just a gust of wind in the right direction) this band could be very prevalent. 

Success to Silverbacks seems to be measured on their own growth and evolution more than anything else, and in turn, it has created this punk that is almost pleasant.

And just as Madra Uisce makes you sit and appreciate the nice things in life, Last Orders comes to shake things up again - as it always does.

Fad by Silverbacks is out on 17th July via Central Tones