Pure M Magazine ISSUE 5 | Page 69

Rob Smith Dale Boca Juniors Review by Dave Simpson Rob Smith is a man of many talents. To begin with, the Dublin based musician already has two albums under his belt. The first, Throwing It All Away, hit in 2008 and spawned three singles that made it into the Irish download chart’s top ten. Its successor, The Juliana Field, arrived to critical acclaim in 2010, followed by the Live in New York and Dublin EP in 2011. In the seven years since his debut, Smith has toured the world, playing live in some 30+ countries across three different continents. His efforts have also been recognised by the Meteor Awards when he was nominated for best newcomer in 2010. Outside of his illustrious career as a singer/songwriter, Smith enjoys success as a DJ, having done sets throughout Europe and in New York. He currently exercises his skills in the field as a resident in The Workman’s Club on his home town’s Wellington Quay. And if all that isn’t enough, Smith dabbles in journalism as well, writing a sports blog for Ireland’s Hot Press magazine. For the moment though, he’s focusing on the promotion of new single, “Dale Boca Juniors”. Starting off with an old school riff, the track is rife with the raw, unrefined sound that’s characteristic of early punk productions. The 3.5 simple lyrics are delivered via coarse vocals which gel well with the lively guitars and percussion. By Smith’s own admission, it’s “very Ramonesey” and there is certainly no shame in such a comparison. This could easily pass Cua Celebrate Review by Emily Belton “Cua”, a three-piece band from Co. Laois, have recently released their new single “Celebrate”. Band members; John Davidson, Shane Booth & Ros O’Meara bring together dynamic and contrasting instrumentation and vocal arrangements that make up Cua. The 2.5 talented three-piece band play a wide variety of instruments including guitars, fiddle, bouzouki and percussion. Cua combine their virtuosity and delicate harmony arrangements Ѽ