Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
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
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
2000 by Joey Wilson, Anton Hegarty and Bryan McMahon. The three had played together with ex-Spudgun guitarist Dave Layde in Mediumwave between 1996 and 1999. The band released two studio LPs ''Future Kings of Spain (2003)'' and ''Nervousystem (2007)'' and one EP ''Les Debemos (2004)''. In September 2009 after a period of inactivity, a number of music media outlets reported on the statement on the band's website announcing how the band had "brought things to a close", though not giving a reason for this apparent break-up.
History
The band was initially formed in 2000. The idea to call the band Future Kings Of Spain came about when Wilson, "was reading two unrelated articles at once and lined up the words Future Kings on one side and of Spain on the other."Contact Music Interview /ref> /ref>
In 2004 the band scooped Best New Band at the
Meteor Music Awards
A Meteor Ireland Music Award was an accolade bestowed upon professionals in the music industry in Ireland and further afield. They had been bestowed each year since 2001, replacing the IRMA Ireland Music Awards held in the 1990s. Promoted by ...
,Meteor Ireland Music Awards . After signing with Japanese label GMT RecordsGMT Records Japan /ref> the band performed to 27,800 people at SONICMANIA 2004 in Osaka and Tokyo.CD Journal /ref>Shock in store for Kings' Joey They also toured and performed with many international acts including
Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have r ...
,
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
,Muse take Future Kings out on tour /ref>
Idlewild (band)
Idlewild are a Scottish rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1995. The band's line-up consists of Roddy Woomble (lead vocals), Rod Jones (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Newton (drums), Andrew Mitchell (bass), and Luciano Rossi (keyboards). To date ...
and
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...
. "Hanging Around" featured in the opening titles of the 2005 '
zombie comedy
The zombie comedy, often called zom com or zomedy, is a film genre that aims to blend zombie horror motifs with slapstick comedy as well as morbid humor.
History
The earliest roots of the genre can be found in Jean Yarbrough's ''King of the ...
'
Boy Eats Girl
''Boy Eats Girl'' is a 2005 horror-comedy film directed by Stephen Bradley and starring Samantha Mumba, produced and shot in Ireland. The plot tells of a teenage boy who comes back to life as a zombie, similar to the plot of the American film '' ...
. At the 2008
Meteor Music Awards
A Meteor Ireland Music Award was an accolade bestowed upon professionals in the music industry in Ireland and further afield. They had been bestowed each year since 2001, replacing the IRMA Ireland Music Awards held in the 1990s. Promoted by ...
, the band were the most nominated act, nominated in 3 categories - Best Irish Band, Best Irish Album and Best Live Act.Meteor Music Award nominees announced /ref> On this occasion the band would come away empty-handed. The band continued to perform into 2008, though not as often as in previous years. During this time Anton married longtime girlfriend
Alison Curtis
Alison "Ally" Curtis (born 1 November 1977 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada) is a presenter of radio on Irish radio station Today FM She currently presents her own show, "Saturday Breakfast with Alison Curtis" on Today FM which airs every Saturday f ...
.Show Time /ref> One of the band's final performances was at
Oxegen 2008
Oxegen '08 was the fifth Oxegen festival to take place, following the dissolution of its predecessor Witnness in 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 11 July, Saturday 12 July and Sunday 13 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in Cou ...
.FKOS at Oxegen 2008 /ref>Cluas Oxegen 2008 Review /ref>The Prodigy and Panic At The Disco added to Oxegen 2008 /ref>
In 2009 the band broke up with no reason given. Golden Plec wrote how it was "one of the great mysteries from the Irish music scene in the early noughties how Future Kings Of Spain failed to turn one of the best Irish rock records of the decade into chart success". On 4 September 2009, the State.ie website described how the band left a short history of themselves in a blog entitled ‘Future Kings Of Spain 2000-2009’ saying that they had in fact disbanded in June 2009.Official Statement
In September 2015, some years after the band's dissolution, Golden Plec reappraised the self-titled by debut Future Kings Of Spain and described it as "a classic".
The band's self-titled debut album was released on 4 August 2003 on CD & limited edition 12" vinyl. It was produced by
Ted Niceley
Ted Niceley is an American record producer. He is most known for his production work with Fugazi, Girls Against Boys, Jawbox, Tripping Daisy, and others.Eli Janney from
Girls Against Boys
Girls Against Boys is a post-hardcore band which formed in Washington, D.C. and subsequently relocated to New York City shortly after their formation in 1989. The band released albums on the labels Adult Swim, Touch and Go Records, Geffen Record ...
mixed the album, with Geoff Sanoff from Washington DC band
Edsel
Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effort ...
engineering throughout. It was released through UK label Red Flag Records and Japanese label GMT Records and included the singles and live anthems "Venetian Blinds", "Hanging Around" and "Face I Know" (debuting at #9 in the UK's Rock Charts).The Red Flag Recording Company
# A Place For Everything
# Your Starlight
# Venetian Blinds
# Hanging Around
# One Look
# Simple Fact
# Meanest Sound
# So Wrong
# Face I Know
# Traps
# Upside Down
Les Debemos EP (2004)
Released in July 2004, this EP was recorded by Lenny Frankie at Jacobs Studio in Surrey and mixed by
Darren Allison
Darren Allison (born May 1968, Ashington, Northumberland, England) is an English record producer, musician, and audio engineer, best known for his production work with artists such as Spiritualized,Kempster, Chris "Studio secrets of the stars ...
(
Spiritualized
Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pierc ...
).Official Site Discography The Red Flag Recording Company /ref>
# Venetian Blinds
# 1981
# We Owe You
Nervousystem (2007)
The album ''Nervousystem'' was released on 28 September 2007, on CD and Download / MP3, on the band's own label, What's The Kim? Recordings. It was produced by Ian Grimble (
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...
, The Fall), mixed by long term friend, artist and producer Joe Chester and recorded at 2 kHz, London & Temple Studios in Malta.Temple Studios, Malta /ref> Although it was recorded late in 2005, the album achieves a timeless quality. In an interview with the
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet new ...
Wilson said "We didn't want to sound fashionable, like the bands who were coming out at that time," says Joe. "You had Bloc Party,Kaiser Chiefs and Futureheads - bands that were sounding post-punk. We're not reinventing the wheel. We're just trying to write good songs."
"Guess Again", the first single, was released on 4 May, and was chosen by public vote on Phantom 105.2 The second single, "Kick In The Teeth", was released on 27 July. The third single from the album "This is the End" was chosen as the song of the week on The
Ian Dempsey
Ian Dempsey (born 16 January 1961) is an Irish presenter of television and breakfast radio. He is the long-running presenter of the breakfast show on Today FM, self-titled ''The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show'', which runs from 6-9 am each weekday. ...
Show on
Today FM
Today FM is an Irish national commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a lic ...
The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show and was number seven in the Irish airplay charts.
# Guess Again
# One More Mistake
# This Is The End
# Lost And Found
# Syndicate
# Kick In The Teeth
# You Dream In Solid Gold
# 1981
# Chemical Burn
# This Song
# Disappear
Favourable reviews of Nervousystem were published by RTÉ, the Irish Times and other outlets. A review on the CLUAS website stated that: "...given the headaches involved in ensuring its release, this could have been the Future Kings of Spain’s
Smile
A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile.
Among humans, a smile expresses ...
. Instead, it may well be their
Pet Sounds
''Pet Sounds'' is the 11th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was initially met with a lukewarm critical and commercial response in the United States, peaking at number 10 on th ...
".CLUAS Review /ref>
Style and reception
Reviews of Future Kings of Spain
* "Future Kings of Spain may have a big thank you to say to
J Mascis
Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. ( ; born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo arti ...
,
Ian MacKaye
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label and the frontman of hardcore punk ...
and
Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer.
Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...
- but that could be dwarfed by the one you'll have for them after hearing this." 4 out of 5 RTÉRTÉ Review /ref>
* "All the nu-punk and nu-metal pretenders will shrink before the power and majesty of The Future Kings of Spain." Cool Noise /ref>
* "Plenty of ear candy here. ‘Venetian Blinds’ has the grin-inducing melody of Weezer and The Rentals, whilst ‘Your Starlight’ is the straight-ahead kinda classic-sounding rock tune Serafin should really be writing." Drowned in Sound
* "I can't help the feeling that they will soon find themselves in America and be lost to these shores for ever. All the nu-punk and nu-metal pretenders will shrink before the power and majesty of The Future Kings of Spain." Cool Noise
* "Future Kings of Spain’s songs are so strong, and this on debut, that I’d much rather hear one of their album throwaways. Name five other new bands right now, off the top of your head, who you can say the same for?" Faster Louder Australia
Other projects
Hussey and McMahon are currently playing with Dan Barry (ex-Bambi) in Badself. The band recorded their debut album with producer Ronan McHugh at the home studio of
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...
's
Joe Elliott
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Elliott (born 1 August 1959) is an English–Irish rock singer, best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of the hard rock band Def Leppard. He has also been the lead singer of the David Bowie tribute ba ...
. Entitled 'The Three Daughters of Mara', it was released in 2014. Hegarty continues to play in A Lazarus Soul and Tin Charm, whilst providing session bass for Danielle Harrison.