The future might not be what it was, but it certainly won't ever be the same once the world is formally introduced to The Clockworks, a four-piece post-punk band hailing from Loughrea, Co. Galway and residing in London. After two years of being a band and finally selling out their local venue, Róisín Dubh, the band decided to chance a move to London early last year. Following nearly immediately after their move, Seán Connelly sent Alan McGee - the man who signed Oasis - a message on Instagram, comparing their demos to The Streets, but with more guitars. McGee loved what he heard, went to see them rehearse in their space in London, and very soon after signed them to Creative 23. In a statement post-signing, McGee was quoted as saying, "The Clockworks are the best band to come out of Ireland since My Bloody Valentine...thank God I signed them!"
I've been sitting on this band for a while now, waiting for just the right time to share my thoughts with everyone, but with the official release of their third single (the music video has already been on YouTube since May 29th) coming up, I figured now would be as good a time as any. Lead singer James McGregor has one of those voices that'll eventually be instantly recognizable - he reminds me a bit of Brandon Flowers. Even if you don't listen to The Killers, you'd know Flowers's voice anywhere. I'm finding it hard to piece together the 'for fans of' portion of this piece; to me, they're incomparable, but if you live for guitar-driven punk rock that stands apart from the rest - or if you're just flat-out pissed off about the state of the world - you'll love The Clockworks.
"The Future Is Not What It Was" is out this Friday, June 12th. The song has had quite a bit of air time recently, having been spun by Annie Mac a number of times on her show Future Sounds after the band gave her a single copy outside the Radio 1 offices. She sings their praises every time she plays it. It's very easy to get lost in the poignant, circular riffs of it, cyclical societal disappointment and the expectations set for future generations reflected in the exasperation of its lyrics - "life is greeting us with a 'fuck you and good day'."
The Clockworks make potent, listen-to-me-or-else music, and are more than certainly going to be an unstoppable force and voice of our generation. Their unyielding ability to craft a catchy song with a striking message has clearly started to catch the attention of people who matter. It's glaringly obvious - to me, at least, and hopefully soon to all of you - the potential this band has to be a household name, and I hope that as soon as you finish this, that you stop whatever you're listening to, and you listen to The Clockworks. You'll want to keep up with them - they can be found on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments