Reviews | ||
RTÉ Entertainment - "Check In" September 1 2005
And that's the worry here because while The Chalets are MacGyveresque in designing their own look, in the end it's the music, not the trappings - and at times the quirky pop on their debut album has the depth of a compact or is too hand-me-down to convince. The choice to be made by The Chalets is whether they want to be a singles band or an albums band. The likes of 'Nightrocker' and 'Feel the Machine' show they've no problem with the former, but they stick to that format too rigidly here, with the result that many of the tracks seem interchangeable. Fun yes, but not always memorable. Given their talent for setting themselves apart from the pack, it would be good to see The Chalets taking this a step further and becoming more adventurous with their sound next time around. They can only release a 'Check In' once, try it again and they could find that they get the same response as wearing an outfit two years too late. Harry Guerin, 2/5
RTÉ Entertainment - "Other Voices 3" - June 16 2005
Joe Chester gets the proceedings off to a fine start with 'A Drop of Rain', followed by the energetic Republic of Loose's 'Hold Up'. The album moves from up-tempo to introspective smoothly, nicely capturing the intimacy of the setting and the relaxed atmosphere. With a collection as diverse as this, everyone's bound to have their own favourites, but Eddi Reader's beautiful 'Kite Flyer's Hill' is among the highlights, as are Declan O'Rourke, Paddy Casey, Emiliana Torrini and Mark Lanegan's offerings. A few of the tracks, Donovan's 'Sunshine Superman' and Steve Earle's 'Ellis Unit 1' are surprising selections, since it might be argued that they played stronger songs than these in their sets, but that's really a matter of taste. Any quibbles about what was or wasn't included should be well and truly quieted by the quality of the collection. Katie Moten
Cool Delta - "Feel The Machine" - June 2005
"The Chalets are a romping, stomping goodtime gang" - NME
In the meantime they somehow managed to record and mix their debut album which will be released later this year. Feel The Machine is the first single to be taken from said album and as usual is packaged in artwork produced by the band (though they did get an adult to help when using a scissors). We think the song is about having impure thoughts about your computer or visa versa. Confused? You will be when you see the video that accompanies it... The single will see a UK release on the 27th of June and the band will be promoting it while on tour supporting The Cribs up and down the country also in June. Check out The Chalets spanking new website (www.thechalets.com) for dates and lots of useless information. Forthcoming gigs: (*w/The Cribs) JUNE 06 Stockton Georgian Theatre* 07 Shrewsbury Buttermarket* 09 London The Garage* 10 Stoke Sugarmill* 11 Coventry Groovy Garden* 13 Cardiff Barfly* 14 Southampton Joiners* 15 Exeter Cavern Club* AUGUST 13 Leicester Summer Sundae Festival @ DeMontfort Hall "This is perfect pop. End of" - Drowned In Sound
SoundsXP - "Feel The Machine" - June 7 2005 Johnnie C.
Drowned In Sound - The Chalets - Feb 8 2005 The Artrocker night in the Garage starts off brilliantly with the SUPER, FAB, ACE, AND JUST BLOODY TERRIFIC drunken Irish ladies and men that are The Chalets, who sound like they should be Scottish with all that Bis and Yummy Fur style keyboard bashing and excitable yelping. By the time they get to the frantic handclaps on ‘Love Punch’, DiS has already gone “coo” approximately 857 times. New favourite band.
SoundsXP - April 3 2005
The Chalets/ The Subways/ The Things Welcome to “The” Village and tonight’s celebration of the ubiquitous Definite Article Band. First up are The Things, five Dublin misfits who take several leaves from the dusty tomes of The Cramps, The Meteors, The Damned and pretty much anyone else with dripping letters in their name. Derivative as their manners and physique may be, they are a spectacularly good and surprisingly fresh band to see live. The guitar and drums are suitably raucous and the swirling, horror-film keyboards and throbbing bass are all in place, but a demure and vaguely spooky frontman would simply kill the effect; fortunately, few frontmen are more unsettlingly psychotic and downright terrifying than Neilo. Energetic and furious, he throws himself maniacally around the stage, leering and scowling at a petrified audience who understandably cower back into the shadows. No amount of monster-mash graveyard gyrations or belly button-flaunting will entice them to come forward and the aggrieved rockstar-in-waiting finally warns them,“See later when The Subways and The Chalets come on, and yiz all move down the front – I’m gonna come out and piss on yiz.” Top class entertainment. Need any more be said about the rise and rise of the The Subways? With their freshly-minted, hit single status, the crowd do indeed gravitate to the front with palpable excitement. What the band deliver is nothing short of magical. Too much modern rock’n’roll is either lazy and sluggish or labour-intensive and hackneyed; The Subways are neither, they were simply born with a gift. Their set is snappy, classy and thrilling and Billy’s half-apology that they’d only arrived an hour before coming onstage only serves to prove a point; even half-soundchecked, they still put most other bands of this ilk to the sword. Indeed, such is their shimmering star-quality that when a sweaty, post-gig Billy flops on to the sofa beside me on the balcony, I become tongue-tied and star-struck. This may be premature, but next time I get a chance to chat to him, I’ll no doubt have half a dozen security to get through first. The Chalets, meanwhile, are living out a bedroom popsters wet dream; all Pee-Pee and Pony are short of is hairbrush-shaped microphones. However, their self-sewn costumes, handbag dancing and “it’s my party” giddiness aren’t mere gimmicks; they’re only a part of an extraordinary pop phenomenon. I say extraordinary, because they’re from modern Dublin, a city that enjoys a party like practically no other in Europe but finds it virtually impossible to get this across in song. Mind you, at the recent Prizes for the Advancement of Tedium in Irish Music (also known as the Meteor Awards) The Chalets somehow won Best Newcomer; is old-fashioned pop entertainment making a mainstream comeback in Ireland? If so, it’s in safe hands. From start to finish they are mesmerising tonight; a wonderful fusion of girl-group harmonies, New Wave vitality and classic 80s synth-pop, they have a set laden with hits. Sexy Mistake and Theme From Chalets alone would have you following this band to hell and back. Everybody’s smiling afterwards, it’s all been such good, clean (if saucy) party fun and not a Tracy Chapman cover version in sight; if Dublin’s sundry singer-songwriters are its musical gruel, The Chalets are its jelly and ice cream. God forbid they ever grow up.
Johnnie C
Green Immigrant - December 2004 Green And Independent
I didn't realize how much music had changed until I heard The Green Album: New Music From Ireland, Vol. I. It's the first in a series of compilations crossing the Atlantic, compiling 13 tracks from independent musicians at home who have been rising to the forefront of the Irish, and European, music scene. It's eclectic. Some tracks incorporating a myriad of styles fusing rock and Hip Hop; synthesizing soft instrumentals stressed with the heavy beat of Hard Rock. It's 80s New Wave weaved into contemporary rock. It's a compilation so diverse you can't really crunch it into a genre. Some of the artists you are certain to have heard before. The Walls, a four-piece guitar band, was formed by brothers Steve and Joe Wall, formerly front-men for 90s knockout groove The Stunning, one of the more successful Irish bands with a string of hits and number one albums behind them. They have also opened for Dylan and U2. Tracks include "The Tiny Magic Indian" by Blink, hailed as by The Irish Times, hardly an 'indy' outfit, as 'one of the best Irish records you'll hear this year.' Such recognition and acclaim shows that bands like Blink and other oracles on The Green Album aren't just making it mainstream; they are making the mainstream. The new must eclipse the old; this looks like the future of Irish pop music.
Hot Press - Nightrock EP - October 22 2004
Phil Udell
Drowned In Sound - The Chalets - May 3 2004 Whilst Irish five-piece The Chalets came by their name after a booze-fuelled All Tomorrow's Parties, there's little in their music that indicates a love of awkward, obscure math-rock. Anything but in fact - this is playground sing-along indie-pop. Think Le Tigre. Think Bis. Heck, even think Shampoo. Catch my drift? Good. There's something a little dirty about it too, most evident in b-side (this is a limited edition 7", vinyl junkies) 'Sexy Mistake' (recently picked up by MTV for an ad' campaign). You could call it bubblegum, but it'd be sour flavoured, with a twist of lime - oooh, sharp. Quirky might be something of a dirty word, but The Chalets are great, quirky fun, and should set fire to dance floors wherever they go.
Hot Press - Oxegen 2004 - June 30 2004
Look out for: ‘Theme From The Chalet’ – all bands should have one.
Drowned In Sound - The Chalets live - Nov 24 2004 The queue's still snaking around the corner, past the entrance to the Famous Cock Tavern above tonight's venue.
"Are you sure we should be leaving?" asks girlfriend. That's in no way intended as a DiS (heh) to tonight's headliners, the much, much-hyped Maximo Park, but I've enough Franz Of Four records to keep me company of an evening without having to endure the claustrophobia-provoking surroundings of a packed Buffalo Bar. Being pressed against the bar whilst airhead blonde bimbos, decked out in whatever thrift garb is chic this week, push past like I'm not there is not my idea of fun. Also, guys who wear scarves indoors - please, don't. You look like twunts and then complain when your trailing neck attire gets trapped between some other guy and me when you're squeezing past on your way to the bogs. Anyway... The Chalets are what I'm here for - five Dubliners possessing a wicked sense of pop-trumps humour and tunes by the absolute skip load. Next to me stands a girl who knows all the words. Sure, she just might be their PR (I don't know and I don't ask), but she's ahead of the identikit pack of wolves that populate this space - this time next year, you'll know all the words, too. When pop music's as catchy, addictive and as downright brilliant as that purveyed by The Chalets, how can it fail? The vocal interaction between boys and girls on stage may smack of Bucks Fizz (as do the girls' matching outfits), and the high-pitched vocals and angry turns of phrase might pack a punch a la Bis, but if it's pop-rockin' X Factor that you want, without having to resort to an evening in with a parasitical rock-star wife and her wannabes, then this is it. Whilst the band members smile throughout their set, no wonder considering the number of faces staring back at them, The Chalets' songs aren't totally loved up. 'Sexy Mistake' tells a does-what-it-says-in-the-title tale of misplaced affections - girl leaving through a back door after claiming that her beau-to-be (almost) looked better in the dark, and set closer 'Love Punch' possesses an even nastier side (sample lyric: "I'm coming home to a punch or a kiss, you say that it's your heart but I know it's your first"). There's even a bizarrely upbeat rape reference in there, disguised by a deceptively simple synth-pop backing and a catchall repeated chorus of “I know you love me but you’re fucking crazy”. All talk of the bittersweet aside, here's the lowdown: The Chalets are good. Very good. And they're going to get better. An album's out in the New Year. You'll buy it and love it. They'll be on the cover of your magazine. No one will remember who headlined tonight. Chances are they’ll still be queuing to find out, though.
ArtRocker - New Acts From The Underground The Chalets - Straight outta Dublin The Chalets. You guessed it: named after a sojourn at All Tomorrow's Parties. In fact, the Irish band had formed and come up with the name just before embarking on a bonding trip to ATP, but the story was too good to pass up. The group seem to fall into good stories naturally - and right now they're on the proverbial rollercoaster ride to success. Catching up with them prior to a sold-out Artrocker gig at the Buffalo Bar, the Chalets give me their grand narrative. They started off, says bassist/guitarist Chris, as "noisy boy-rock". Reacting against the bearded post-rock tedium of millennial Dublin, drummer Dylan explains that they decided on a masterplan: to create great party music. The initial trio, with guitarist/bassist Enda, was joined by vocalists Pee-Pee and Pony (Paula and Caoimhe to their mums). Brought in to do backing vocals, Pony gleefully recounts that the girls "pretty well took over", and were soon covering lead vocals, keyboards, glockenspiel - you name it. Party music is a good tag for the Chalets; they're a fun-loving bunch who don't take themselves too seriously. Their three-and-a-half-minute pop songs are upbeat, infectious, and crammed with great sing- or yell-along hooks. Girl-gang harmonies and call-and-response vocal interplay (four out of five sing) are backed by choppy rhythm guitar riffs, distorted keyboards and a super-solid beat. Lyrics are mostly about girls, boys, and what happens between the two at the end of the party. What more could you want? The Chalets frequently get compared to the B52s - which they admit is a fair assessment - but other useful reference points would be Bis (for that upbeat guitar+keyboard sound with girl/boy vocals), the Breeders (the girls' sung Irish accents are oddly reminiscent of the Deal sisters), and Le Tigre or Melt Banana (sped-up lady pop with loads of crazy noises). Then there's the high-energy live show with the two frontgirls in matching glamourpuss outfits. Bursting onto the Dublin live scene, Dylan reckons they stood out as a weird pop band - with the key difference that, unlike boring old post-rock, girls loved it.
Things really started to kick off for the band with their May 2004 double A-sided single, "Theme from Chalets" / "Sexy Mistake", on friends' label Nastypop. A week before release, they got a call from an ad agency wanting to use Sexy Mistake for MTV Ireland's launch campaign. Massive airwave exposure followed (though, typically for MTV, no cash), and in a whirlwind of rock'n'roll glamour the Irish government sent them to Slovenia to celebrate its accession to the EU. The band eagerly describe their stay in Slovenia's poshest hotel, sleeping in Peter Ustinov and Roger Moore's beds. Closer interrogation reveals, thankfully, that Mssrs. Ustinov and Moore were no longer there at the time... Since then, they've gigged solidly, and linked up with Irish label Setanta to release the four-song Nightrock EP, which hit top 40 in the Irish charts and was released on 22 nd November in the UK. They're currently recording an album for Setanta - in a posh studio! with a jacuzzi and sauna! - and a new single will be out in February. Deliberating on the pinnacle of the Chalets' ambitions, Pony decides it would have to be a week's tour of Japan. They'd most like to share a pint with Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips and Cody Chestnutt from the Roots. Oh, and Britney Spears. Irish bands they want to big up include 7..10 (Ten Past Seven), the Redneck Manifesto, Waiting Room, and the Warlords of Pez. Last word to guitarist Enda; after the various breaks that have come their way, "I hope we're not rumbled". Small chance of that; the Chalets may be making pop music, but it's not throwaway. Despite being self-effacing about their talents in the traditional Irish way, they've got a whole bag of musical and technical tricks up their sleeves. The songs are catchy but twisted; though you can identify similarities to other bands, they still sound fresh and individual. The A-sides as much as the B-sides display a willingness to experiment with odd sounds and angular arrangements. Perhaps the best distillation of what the Chalets are about is the motif of on the sleeve of the single: a razorblade lollipop, sweet, with an edge. Ruaidhri Donnelly NEWS EXTRA - The Chalets tour with Artrocker favorates Art Brut next month...
ArtRocker - The Chalets THE CHALETS (Cork, Ireland) Eccentric power pop five piece from Cork, Ireland playing their first Artrocker gig while over to announce the release of their second single "Nightrock" EP on SETANTA Records. A winning collection of cartoon artrock. These two girls, two boys and a drummer called Dilbot have a small town community come South Park vibe to their art rockings demonstrated in their much Xfm enjoyed debut single "Theme from Chalets / Sexy Mistake" (also Setanta Records). Comparisons to The Breeders and B52s are accurate although contemporary soulmates must be Chicks on Speed and New York's Rogers Sisters. "Wacky" may not be your thing but buzz-saw artrocking tunes must surely be and hand sown costumes a la Erase Errata must surely be?
At the Club Tuesday November 23rd
Hot Press - Road Test 'Em "The Chalets have won a legion of devotees since their first gig in May 2002, as well as appearing on several of the country’s more prestigious bills of late, including Wonky 2, The Ballroom of Romance, The Foggy Notions tour with The Last Post, and support slots for The Jimmy Cake, eX-Girl and Jacob Golden & Jeffrey Lewis on the Rough Trade tour. (Phew!) A gloriously alt-pop amalgam, their music is both deceptively simple and infinitely catchy, garnering comparisons to the B-52’s and The Go Go’s which, I daresay, the band themselves would be quite chuffed about. ‘Two Chord Song’, the Chalets' very first release and their contribution to Road Relish No. 12, is available for you to hear by kind permission of 2fm - as it was first recorded as a Session, for broadcast on both the Dave Fanning show and Jay Ahern. It was engineered and produced by Mark McGrath on 14th October of last year, at Studio 8, RTE Radio Centre."
Miscellaneous " A revelation...if the B-52's and Le Tigre married and had babies The Chalets would probably be the result." The Belfast Telegraph "The best pop band an indie kid could wish for." Hot Press "...a wonderful blur of hybrid pop by way of synth, punk and noise." The Irish Times | ||
There's
a quote in the Bruce Lee film 'Enter the Dragon' where 1970s martial
arts star Jim Kelly's character says that when he is beaten in a fight
he won't even notice. The reason? He'll be too busy looking good. It's a
line that has some relevance for Dublin quintet The Chalets, who have
had far more attention paid to their image than their songs.
The third series of 'Other Voices' has featured such talented Irish acts as Paddy Casey, Republic of Loose and The Divine Comedy, as well as Donovan, Eddi Reader and The Cowboy Junkies from the international music scene. It stands to reason then that the accompanying live album would boast a number of notable tracks from the series.
The many miles separating us from home can make us lose touch with our roots. As far as music goes, we can easily slip into the scene Stateside, losing track of what's going on "over there." Listening to pop radio or watching MTV over here, you might get the impression that Irish music is U2, The Cranberries etc.... It isn't.
"The Chalets – From slightly novelty origins, The Chalets are fast developing into one of Dublin’s most distinctive bands. The irreverent sense of fun remains, now coupled with the realisation that it’s the quality of songs that keep people coming back. Expect them to be one of the most talked about local bands of the weekend."
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