Gilla Band

Noisy indie rock quartet Gilla Band (formerly known as Girl Band) made their name with a sound steeped in six-string distortion, electronic manipulation, hard rhythms, and surreal lyrics. The severity of their attack is enough to make less adventurous listeners blanche, yet there are flashes of wit lurking beneath the harsh surfaces that buffer the impact, and the group’s wildly uncompromised music has won a potent cult following. 2015′s Holding Hands with Jamie set the stage for their brutal variety of noise rock, and 2019′s The Talkies offered a more personal lyrical stance informed by singer Dara Kiely’s struggle with mental health issues, while 2022′s Most Normal was tighter and more concise, but no less furious.
Formed in Dublin in late 2011, Gilla Band quickly caused a stir in the blogosphere with their debut single, “In My Head,” which appeared as a free download in April 2012. With influences ranging from the Bad Brains and the Contortions to Neu! and the Chemical Brothers, the four-piece of Dara Kiely (vocals), Alan Duggan (guitar), Daniel Fox (bass), and Adam Faulkner (drums) went about playing shows around Ireland and making an EP. Recorded live and produced by the band, France 98 was available in a limited run of 300 on 12” vinyl through Any Other City and included the infectious groove of “You’re a Dog.” Following this, Gilla Band recorded a cover of techno artist Blawan’s “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?,” which furthered their reputation and expanded their fan base, setting them up for a handful of U.K. live dates in April 2013.
A few limited 7″ singles appeared on Any Other City in 2014. Tracks from these singles, as well as the band’s Blawan cover, were given wider release in 2015 on The Early Years, Gilla Band’s debut EP for Rough Trade (which ironically did not include any material from their earliest releases from 2012). Holding Hands with Jamie, the group’s self-produced debut album, landed on Rough Trade in September 2015. In the summer of 2016, the band abruptly canceled all further tour dates, citing health reasons. Gilla Band went conspicuously silent online, leading many to believe they had split up. However, in 2019 the group unexpectedly announced another album, The Talkies, which they had been secretly recording at Ballintubbert House on the outskirts of Dublin. Gilla Band’s first concert album, Live at Vicar St., arrived in 2020. It was recorded over two nights in 2019 at the famed Dublin venue.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, Gilla Band’s touring schedule was wiped clean, and they suddenly had more time to work on their third studio album. Influenced by contemporary hip-hop production (as Daniel Fox put it, “there’s really heavy-handed production and they’re messing with the track the whole time”), the group created a tighter and more playful album that was no less punishing in its attack and idiosyncratic in its structures. The LP, Most Normal, arrived in October 2022, followed by extensive U.K. and European touring and American dates in 2023. ~ Daniel Clancy