Ones To Watch: Vulpynes

There’s something riotous going in Dublin lately. Groups like Girl Band and Bitch Falcon have delivered a sneering, noisy grunge, fronting an uncompromising and exciting new wave of Irish rawk n rawl. And now there’s singer-guitarist Maeve Molly and drummer Kaz, otherwise known as Vulpynes.

The pair cite influences from ’90s grunge first and foremost and have been compared, variously, to Hole, L7 and Bikini Kill. But there’s also that gnawing, incessant feeling that one finds in The Stooges and contemporary duos such as Honeyblood and Deap Vally. Curiously, too, last year’s release ‘OCD’ stems from Maeve’s “obsession with the number three” – a trait she shares, most famously, with The White Stripes’ Jack White.  

The pair aren’t just doing introspection, though. New track ‘Silica’ – named for the small packets that you find in almost everything you buy – deals with “how people use each other and how everything, even people, are viewed as disposable in today’s society”. Musically, it’s the most complete song Vulpynes have put out, opening with a whirl of guitar and slam drum that calls to mind Nirvana’s ‘Territorial Pissings’. Stepping its tempo up and down, the track keeps you hooked through to a jerk stop, leaving Maeve’s biting, jagged voice ringing in your ears.  

A dessicating slab of neo-grunge, ‘Silica’ is a deceptively simple introduction to the Vulpynes’ howl, and all the more impressive given that it’s the pair’s third release, having met only eighteen months ago. And whatever comes next certainly promises to be more than just throw-away.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

John McGovern

John McGovern

John McGovern

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