Silverbacks - 'Pink Tide'

Dublin five piece Silverbacks have shared considered yet contrary new single ‘Pink Tide’. Produced by Daniel Fox of fellow Dubliners Girl Band, the track retains the spiky post-punk of previous releases ‘Just In The Band’ and ‘Dunkirk’ but channel it into a more laidback groove.

There must be something in the water in Dublin, for a city of only around 500,000 their stake in the alt-rock landscape is disproportionately significant. With up and comers The Murder Capital, the imminent return of Girl Band and the remarkably triumphant breakthrough of compatriots Fontaines DC, it would be foolhardy to overlook the talent coming out of the Irish capital.

Out of this pool of post-punkers spring Silverbacks with a sardonic tone and deadpan humour that carries with it a healthy disrespect for old world authority figures, as vocalist Daniel O’Kelly declares on ‘Pink Tide’ “Make way for the guards/ They’re nothing to me”. His delivery has a talk-sing quality to it reminiscent of Girl Band albeit more conversational and less abrasive. The interlocking guitars provide a calculated freneticism, keeping the verses off kilter before resolving satisfyingly for the choruses. The outro explodes with a more conventional riff structure that provides a cathartic resolution, finally getting the bit between its teeth for a clear run to the finish. There’s a raucous, jagged edge, but the band are also clearly incredibly tight –after all it’s difficult to make things sound that effortlessly gritty without being completely unlistenable.

With sessions for their album complete, prominent tastemaker support and headline shows in the UK under their belt, Silverbacks may have a lot to live up to but it shouldn’t be long until they become the next popular Irish export.

Words by Hattie Long

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