Jay’s ability to sell this band to me so well without even hearing a single note of their work led me to think he may have done a little more than just kiss, the Blarney Stone during his time in the emerald isles.

There seems to be a thriving community of hard working musicians and bands and this group of lads are very much at the heart of it.  “The Walls” have been flying the flag for our Celtics brothers since the late 90’s and have achieved some pretty impressive things on the way, including support slots to the likes of U2, Bob Dylan and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Slane Castle played host to U2 and The Walls and it was there that they entertained a crowd in excess of 80,000 their biggest crowd to date.  From a band still to charm the rest of the UK this almost seems too over the top to be true but make no mistake, it is.  After my first sitting with the bands debut release “Hi Lo” it was almost too easy to believe the hype.  Although I was disappointed that I hadn’t heard of this band before now I was equally pleased in the knowledge that I had not just one but two albums get stuck into.

“Hi Lo” the bands debut released in the year 2000 is the sort of record you’d expect from a bunch of lads with the desire and commitment to make things happen in Ireland and UK, (to begin with).  The record soon caught the eye of producers everywhere and The Walls were soon to be heard on TV programmes and in feature films such as Dead Bodies and On the Edge.  The rasp of the piccolo snare and funk filled riffs of “Bone deep” made the album opener a favourite amongst radio stations and could quite easily be the result of a weekend at the Beck school of groove.  With the opening to “Some Kind of a Girl” fit to fill any Levi’s ad and the sample charged but soothing tones of “Something’s Wrong” this is a debut worth shouting about.  “I’m sure people were, but it just couldn’t have been loud enough!”  The Bram Stoker’s Dracula style organ of “Love Eluded Me” gives us a much welcomed offering of the darker side to The Wall’s clover and for me is one of the stand out tunes on the record.  All in all a great sounding record.

The piccolo snare has been dropped for the more traditional “rock” sounding drum for the follow up released in the summer of 2005.  The band seemed to have matured somewhat since the release of the debut but all the same “New Dawn Breaking” is another record with a lot to offer.  It doesn’t surprise me that the feel good “Passing Through”, “To The Bright And Shining Sun” the blues explosion of “Drowning Pool”, and the acoustic precision of “Black and Blue” have already been hit singles for the boys in the Irish charts.  “Open Road” is a well produced moody opener that sets us up well for the change in direction The Walls have taken with this record.  Well written beautifully crafted acoustic tales “Know Your Love” and “Ghost” move this record along effortlessly only for the two minute fifty one second blues assault of “Drowning Pool” to shatter the mood perfectly.  The simplicity of the title track and curtain closer for the album says that The Walls are about one thing and one thing only, the music.

Music to make films for…

by Neil

You can here tracks from the new album here www.myspace.com/thewallsband and you can find out where to buy the The Wall's cd's here www.thewalls.ie

To learn more about The Walls check out their profile in the RWTZ community section by clicking here.