Spearside are quickly carving out a space for themselves in the colourful world of guitar pop, among the guitar driven underground scene in Ireland which includes kindred spirits Cardinals, Search Results, Stupid Son, Unstuck and Beauty Pageant.
Since their live debut in October 2022, “Passion Merchant” has been central to SPEARSIDE’S live set, easily recognisable to anyone who has seen the band over their first twelve months. Given the strong power pop thread running through the band’s releases to date, listeners tend to be surprised that Spearside’s live set is heavy and raw with psych undertones. “Passion Merchant” opens a new chapter in the ever expanding sonic world of Spearside.
Track Of The Day: SPEARSIDE are a three-piece band lead by brothers Oisín Walsh (vocals/guitar) and Cian Walsh (vocals/bass), along with their friend Dylan Zovich (drums). The band produces all of their music from their own home-studio in Trim, Co. Meath. IRELAND.
Drawing on current influences such as Militarie Gun, Dazy, Pile Of Love, Hotline TNT, Turnstile, The Whiffs, 2nd Grade, The Speedways, Uni Boys and timeless influences like Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, JAMC, Ride, Buzzcocks, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Johnny Thunders, QOTSA, MC5, Jay Reatard, Ty Segall and Brian Jonestown Massacre it’s hard to fit Spearside into a category cleanly, as they sound like everything and nothing you’ve heard before.
Running parallel to their punk, power-pop and garage rock tendencies are Spearside’s devotions to Can, Spiritualized, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the many contemporary acts reimagining psych rock today.
Speaking of the new release, frontman Oisín Walsh said,
“The instrumental section developed slowly over a number of gigs. On the recording we tried to capture the best parts from various improvised jams we would go off on in the middle of playing Passion Merchant live. I recently moved to Rome, and most of the mid section was recorded the night before I left Ireland because I’ve never been one for deadlines. Passion Merchant is a side of our band that to this point has been reserved for our live audiences.”
Listen to the latest single from SPEARSIDE called “Passion Merchant” below