Fangclub
Fangclub | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Rush, County Dublin, Ireland |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Label | Vertigo |
| Members | Steven King Kevin Keane Dara Coleman |
| Website | fangclubmusic |
Fangclub are an Irish alternative rock band from Rush, County Dublin. Formed in 2013, they quickly signed to Vertigo Records, who released their debut self-titled album in 2017. Fangclub became one of the most prominent Irish bands in the 2010s grunge revival. They released their second album Vulture Culture in 2019.
History
[edit]Steven King (guitar/vocals), Kevin Keane (bass) met while attending school in Rush, County Dublin, and performed in various bands together.[1] The pair met Dara Coleman (drums) at a party, having previously seen his old bands perform.[2] They formed Fangclub in 2013.[1] They played their first live show in December 2014.[3]
They went to the coastal village of Ballyheigue in County Kerry to record over 25 tracks, which was self-financed. In early 2015 while on one of their DIY tours, they came to the attention of Universal Music's Irish team.[4] Suitably impressed that Fangclub had already recorded an albums worth of music, Universal signed the band in August 2015.[5] They became apart of the Univeral Music subsidiary Vertigo Records.[4][6]
Largely comprising songs from their original D.I.Y. efforts, their second EP, Coma Happy, appeared in 2016. They then took to the road, headlining a sold-out show at Whelan's, Dublin and concluding the festival season with two sets at Electric Picnic. Fangclub made their U.K. live debut in 2016 with Welsh group Pretty Vicious, and also toured with Twin Atlantic.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2017. The album reached number 5 on the Irish album charts[7] and received positive reviews from critics, with The Irish Times calling it "one of the best hard rock albums of 2017".[8] In January 2018, the album was nominated for the Choice Music Prize.[9] Between 7 and 20 May 2017, they headlined a tour of the United Kingdom.[10] On the live circuit, Fangclub have supported bands such as Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies, Muse, Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic, Nothing But Thieves, The Cribs, Swmrs and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes.[4]
The band released their second album Vulture Culture on 5 July 2019.[11] Vulture Culture received positive reviews, with Hot Press writing; "this 11-track opus is most certainly the jewel in the Irish alt-rock kings’ crown to date."[12][13]
The single "Attention" was released on 1 March 2024. On 19 April of the same year, Out Of My Head, released on various streaming platforms. On the 14 June 2024, the EP 'All Good' was released. It included singles Attention and Out Of My Head, with an additional three tracks (Natural, You Had Me At Hello, and Exit Oblivion).[14]
Musical style and influences
[edit]Critics have categorised Fangclub's music as grunge,[1] punk rock,[1][15] garage punk,[16] noise rock[17] and pop-punk.[18]
NME have stated that "Fangclub are a fully formed thrash pop monster; melodic, frenzied and phenomenal. Imagine a beefed-up Tribes, or Cloverfield glam. If Fontaines are piloting the new Irish punk blitz, Fangclub are the Big Boys in the bomb bay."[19] The Guardian wrote that the group "are obviously a leftover band from the 90s grunge scene who slipped through some sort of time portal and are stuck here, thrashing their guitars against the raging of the sun."[20]
Fangclub were a part of the 2010s grunge revival.[1] They were one of its most prominent Irish acts, alongside Bitch Falcon and Gilla Band.[21]
Fangclub have cited influences including Dinosaur Pile-Up, Pulled Apart by Horses, Marmozets, Tigercub, Royal Blood, Death from Above 1979, Reuben, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Radiohead, Soulwax, Supergrass, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Interpol, the Subways, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Cribs, the Strokes, the Hives, Cage the Elephant, Jeff the Brotherhood, Metric, Sonic Youth, Heatmiser, Placebo, My Bloody Valentine, Rozwell Kid, Pond, Wavves, Courtney Barnett, Violent Soho, Fidlar, Basement, Jimmy Eat World, Alkaline Trio, Bad Religion, Rancid, Frank Iero, Touché Amoré, the Bronx, Whipping Boy, Local H, the Muffs, P.J. Harvey, Beck, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden,[22] Nirvana, Nine Black Alps, Elliott Smith, Blur, the Offspring,[23] the Distillers, NOFX, the Vines,[2] Green Day and the Pixies.[24] In a 2018 interview with Itsallindie, King stated of their influences "We are very influenced by whatever cool creeps into Ireland so for instance, I’m completely influenced by a lot of American culture".[10]
Members
[edit]Current
- Steven King – lead vocals, guitar (2013–present)
- Kevin Keane – bass guitar (2013–present)
- Dara Coleman – drums, percussion (2013–present)
Touring Members
- Ed Scanlan – guitar (2019–present)
Discography
[edit]| Fangclub discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 2 |
| EPs | 3 |
| Singles | 2 |
| Music videos | 12 |
Studio albums
[edit]| Year | Details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| IRL [7] | ||
| 2017 | Fangclub | 5 |
| 2019 | Vulture Culture
|
31 [25] |
Singles / EPs
[edit]| Year | Title | Label | Track list |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Bullet Head
|
Headwire Records | 1. Bullet Head 2. Young Blood 3. Loner 4. Role Models |
| 2016 | Coma Happy
|
Vertigo Records | 1. Dreamcatcher 2. Follow 3. Inside Joke 4. Coma Happy |
| 2018 | All Fall Down
|
Vertigo Records | 1. All Fall Down |
| 2018 | True Love
|
Vertigo Records | 1. Knife 2. Heart Is A Landmine 3. Smother 4. Sweater Forever 5. High |
| 2019 | Viva Violent
|
Vertigo Records | 1. Viva Violent 2. All Fall Down (Acoustic) |
| 2024 | Attention
|
Headwire Records | 1. Attention |
| 2024 | Out Of My Head
|
Headwire Records | 1. Out Of My Head |
| 2024 | All Good
|
Headwire Records | 1. Attention 2. Out Of My Head 3. Natural 4. You Had Me At Hello 5. Exit Oblivion |
| 2025 | So Easy
|
Headwire Records | 1. So Easy |
| 2025 | Champagne Problems
|
Headwire Records | 1. Champagne Problems |
| 2025 | Half Life
|
Headwire Records | 1. Half Life |
| 2025 | Half Life
|
Headwire Records | 1. So Easy
2. Champagne Problems 3. Devotion Sickness 4. Half Life 5. Neighbourhood |
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Fangclub | Album of the Year | Nominated[26] |
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Bemrose, Bekki. "Fangclub — Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
- 1 2 "Fangclub - Q&A | Other Voices". www.othervoices.ie. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ O'Regan, Colm. "Hot Press meets Ireland's hottest new rock band, Fangclub". Hotpress. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- 1 2 3 Bemrose, Bekki. "Fangclub Biography on Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ↑ Pearlman, Mischa (16 May 2016). "New Band of the Week: Fangclub". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Murphy, Lauren (14 July 2019). "Fangclub sink their teeth into rock". The Times.
- 1 2 "Fangclub enter the Irish Charts at No. 5 with stunning debut - Music - News - Hot Press". Hot Press - Music News, Reviews, Interviews plus Pop Culture and Politics. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ↑ Clayton-Lea, Tony (2 August 2017). "Fangclub:one of the best hard rock albums of 2017". The Irish Times.
- ↑ White, Stephen (10 January 2018). "Choice Music Prize Album of the year 2017 nominees announced". The Last Mixed Tape.
- 1 2 "[INTERVIEW] with... Fangclub". 8 May 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ "Eurosonic 2019 review: a blitz of blind discovery (and a few familiar faces) at The Netherlands' music industry meat market". NME. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ↑ McFee, Edwin (20 June 2019). "Album Review: Fangclub - Vulture Culture". Hot Press.
- ↑ ""I just wanted to be asleep all the time" - how Fangclub came back from the brink".
- ↑ "'All Good' 14.06.24". us21.campaign-archive.com. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ↑ "TRACK BY TRACK: FANGCLUB – BULLET HEAD EP". Upsetmagazine.com. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ↑ ANDREWS, KERNAN. "Punk, surf rock, and indie @ Citóg". Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ "Track Review: In My Room // THUMPER". Retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Newsdesk, The Hot Press. "WATCH: Fangclub premiere their 'Loner' video". Hotpress. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ "Eurosonic 2019 review: A blitz of blind discovery (And a few familiar faces) at the Netherlands' music industry meat market". NME. 21 January 2019.
- ↑ Golby, Joel (9 September 2016). "The best of this week's music: Fangclub offer up time-portal grunge with Loner". The Guardian.
- ↑ O’Regan, Nadine. "Welcome to the club". Business Post. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
- ↑ "Favourites of Fangclub". open.spotify.com. Retrieved 10 October 2026.
- ↑ Murphy, Lauren (10 December 2019). "10 Questions with... Fangclub". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 10 October 2026.
- ↑ bands, Rob Laing We talk rock's state of play with two of the UK's finest young guitar (26 June 2018). "Milk Teeth & Fangclub: "UK radio stations only seem to play rock bands that play arenas. And then they wonder why small venues are closing down"". MusicRadar. Retrieved 10 October 2026.
- ↑ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ↑ "Choice Music prize 2017". Choice Music Prize. 2017.