Castlecomer is a five-piece Australian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band formed in the suburbs of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Named after a small town in Ireland, Castlecomer consists of four cousins who have been making music together since childhood. They released their self-titled debut album on 5 October 2018 on Concord Records.

History

Named after a coal-mining village in Ireland where most of the band's family members emigrated from, Castlecomer has been making music together and touring the festival circuit since 2013. The band is fronted by vocalist Bede Kennedy. He is joined in the band by three cousins (two of whom are brothers), along with close family friend, Neely.Conaton, Chris (2018)
Castlecomer Want to Make You Dance and Maybe Also Rock
,

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

, 9 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018 All of the band members are classically trained. They have cited

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, Two Door Cinema Club, and M83 as influences, as well as Kendrick Lamar and

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

, The Strokes,

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

. They have been described as delivering "a unique form of alternative guitar pop ready made for huge dance parties and crowd sing-a-longs". The band built a fanbase in Australia before moving to the United States in 2017 and signing with Concord Records.Lanham, Tom (2018)
Australia’s Castlecomer on the rise
, ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

'', 11 July 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018 The band members currently reside in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, where they moved to in early 2018. They put out a series of EPs between 2012 and 2014, but split with their Australian label before ever putting out a full-length album. In 2017 they played eight shows in three days at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

. "Frontman Bede, with a shocking amount of incredible hair that Pantene should get on right away for an advertisement opportunity, bounded around the stage and onto the floor like a madman to their catchy tunes", one reviewer described of their SXSW shows. "You can't help but get drawn into dancing to the infectious beats of their music. Their incredible energy reminds me of Two Door Cinema Club in their early days, which is something even Two Door can't manage to recapture. Delicious escapist fare." They came out of South by Southwest with management, a record deal, publishing, and a booking agent. As of September 2018, their first official single, "Fire Alarm", had over six million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

, reaching the number six position on the streaming service's

Global Viral Global Viral (GV), previously known as Global Viral Forecasting Institute (GVFI), is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 2007 by Nathan Wolfe to study infectious diseases, their transmission ...

chart. The band's single "Leaving" has been described as "so innately tranquil and intimate that it feels like you could be in your friend's bedroom, helping him/her reel over a break-up. (It) speaks to heartbreak, feeling helpless and resistant to saying goodbye."

Tours

After spending the summer of 2018 playing U.S. festivals as well as smaller solo shows in the U.S. and Australia, Castlecomer toured the US in October and November 2018 in support of their self-titled debut album.

Discography

Albums EPs Singles

References

{{reflist Musical groups from Sydney Australian indie pop musicians Australian indie rock groups Australian emo musical groups