Just Mustard

Fronted by Katie Ball, the Irish quintet fuse elements of post-rock, shoegaze, and dream pop, creating an innovative and brooding sound that flits between discordance and ethereality.
They formed as a quartet in Dundalk, County Louth, in 2015 when Ball began to write music with people from the same circle of friends: bassist Rob Clarke and guitarists David Noonan and Mete Kalyon. They bonded over a shared love of Radiohead, Sonic Youth, and Hans Zimmer and, in 2016, released a self-recorded, eponymous EP at a time when they had no permanent drummer. Their rhythm section was completed in early 2017, when Shane McGuire joined half-way through sessions for their debut album. Wednesday was issued in May 2018 on Shane Byrne’s Pizza Pizza Records, a Dundalk-based independent label specifically set up to place the best local talent on vinyl. An online feature about the record created such a buzz that the initial run of 300 copies soon sold out, with many being snapped up by U.S.-based fans. Prior to Wednesday’s release, Just Mustard had mainly played live in the local area, but they spent the reminder of the year touring Ireland and fulfilling their first dates in England. Next, in 2019, they played at Barcelona’s Primavera Festival and were also invited to support the Cure.
Their May 2019 double-A-side single — “Frank”/“October” — betrayed a trip-hop influence and that September, after touring the U.K. with Fontaines D.C., they issued a further single, “Seven.” Before the end of the year, they were signed to Partisan Records — Fontaines’ home — but any immediate plans to release their next album were put on hold due to the emergence of COVID-19. In August 2020, as a stopgap, Pizza Pizza issued a live EP, initially recorded for the Part Time Punks radio show on L.A.’s KXLU 88.9FM.
Their Partisan debut, “I Am You,” eventually arrived in November 2021, the first fruit of two years of sessions which saw them perfect, experiment, and reimagine the Just Mustard sound. There’s a closeness and depth of tone and production to May 2022′s Heart Under that engulfs the listener, making them feel they’re part of the band. Its promotional tour took in multiple European venues before they traveled with Fontaines D.C. to the U.S. for an extensive run of dates. ~ James Wilkinson