Articles by Aaron Kavanagh

For four decades now, Mike Watt has been one of the quintessential bassists in alternative music. From starting his band, the Minutemen, with his childhood friend D. Boon to beginning several additional projects and collaborating […]

After finding fame and success as one-half of the Kiwi comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, writer, actor, comedian and musician Bret McKenzie attempts to shed the irony and comedy that he’s known for on […]

The Plymouth-based indie band The Native are rising stars in the indie sphere with healthy airplay on British radio, spots on some of the UK’s biggest festivals and supporting slots for big names. The band’s […]

Named after Sidney Lumet’s classic 1975 crime thriller starring Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon are an up-and-coming Irish indie act from Dublin and Laois. They have been garnering a lot of attention from continued airplay […]

It’s 1977, and a slew of albums from the first wave of British punk acts are being released. We’re seeing the debuts of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, The Jam, The Stranglers and […]

It has been a long time since prog-metal band Tool graced the Emerald Isle. Their last performance here was in 2006 at The Point Theatre in Dublin, which was technically the same venue as the […]

Graham Carey, the drummer for the Pink Floyd tribute band Breathe – The Pink Floyd Experience, spoke with XS Noize ahead of the band’s show at The Limelight in Belfast this Saturday. When did Breathe […]

The Linda Lindas are a punk quartet with a median age of 14, who rose to prominence when the Los Angeles Public Library uploaded a video of them performing their song “Racist, Sexist Boy” in […]

After a near-decade as a band, the legendary, noisy alt-rockers Bitch Falcon gave their swan song at Dublin’s Whelan’s on April Fool’s Day, an event delayed since the middle of last December when the omicron […]

Since the age of 20, the Texas born-and-raised singer-songwriter Jarrod Dickenson has been performing the Americana music he loves to audiences worldwide. Jarrod spoke with Aaron Kavanagh ahead of his performance at The Black Box […]

If you were to hear MØ’s background explained in the abstract without hearing her work for yourself, the image you may have of her music could seem contradicting and incompatible. She puts Sonic Youth and […]

Derry based Indie-pop artist Reevah recently released her brand new EP ‘Begin, Again’ along with single ‘nights’ The final instalment to come from the collection of songs that Reevah recorded in The Beekeepers residence in […]

Hitting the ground running with her debut album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit in 2015, Aussie singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett has been a much-loved musician by critics and fans alike for her distinctive, […]

Bangor four-piece, The Florentinas, recently released their debut single ‘Sandcastles’. ‘Sandcastles’ was recorded by Rocky O’Reilly at Start Together Studios, Belfast. Aaron Kavanagh sat down with the band to learn how the band started, their […]

Have you ever listened to a Tori Amos record? If so, then you know exactly what to expect from Ocean to Ocean. Amos has had a fairly consistent track record of releasing a new album every […]

Named after their lead singer, Pip Blom are a young alternative indie band from the Netherlands. Having got rotation on indie radio stations, played festivals in Europe and the UK, and toured as support for […]

Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 is the debut EP from the latest Sub Pop act, Bria, which is a collaborative act of Bria Salmena and Duncan Hay Jennings. As the EP’s potentially unpublishable-without-asterisks title may suggest, […]

After a purgatorial stint of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has also affected certain aspects of the album itself, The Killers are back with their seventh studio album, Pressure Machine. The band co-produced […]