Giveamanakick, Whelan's, Dublin
- Written by Marky Edison
Photos: Allayne Cassidy
Giveamanakick are, and were, a duo from Limerick made up of Stephen Ryan, on vocals and guitars, and Keith Lawler on drums. They caused a stir on the indie scene in the Noughties with their noisy rock; whimsical lyrics over furious hardcore. They toured Europe and North America playing with the likes of Deftones, Dinosaur Jr and Rocket From The Crypt before disbanding in 2009.
Debut album Is It Ok To Be Loud, Jesus? is still held in high regard and garnered the group a cult following but it was second album We Are the Way Forward that is regarded as their magnum opus, and tonight they play Whelan's main room to mark the 10 year anniversary of its release. It has been reissued on vinyl and Giveamanakick are playing four shows (“no more, no less”) around the country.
DJ Naive Ted opens the proceedings with some old school scratching and hard hitting beats, while dressed as a Luchador. His skills and showmanship are loudly appreciated by the assembled throng but the reaction when Giveamanakick emerge is on another level.
They open with a single note riff and a drum roll to an eruption of joyous screaming. Giveamanakick combine intensity and showmanship with proper hard rock riffing and power chords. Keith spins his sticks while Steve’s shouty vocals provide a strange contrast between his hardcore delivery and the humorous banality of the lyrics. A bit of call and response is encouraged, and some hand clapping. It is all gloriously noisy.
It’s a big sound for a duo but any additional instruments would be overkill. Giveamanakick employ the kind of kick drum and guitar rumble that sends your trousers flapping before the speakers. The songs are well loved by the audience and are delivered with the ferocity of a hardcore band. There’s an instinctive synchronicity between the pair despite their years apart.
There are overtones of McClusky / Future Of The Left as well as explicit nods to Shellac and Nirvana. It’s hard to tell if Giveamanakick came too early or too late to be a big success. They would have fit the grunge explosion in the Nineties, or be touring with Royal Blood or Blacklisters today. Nevertheless this is a fine testament to, and celebration of, the band’s music and live appeal. We could do with more bands like this.
They open with two songs from their debut album, then play We Are The Way Forward in order. Steve notes that “at the time of release everyone ignored it for a year, then some people listened to it”. Halfway through they pause for a question and answer session, with a prize for the best question of a wedge of Port Salut cheese. As a cheese addict and journalist, I take a moment to chastise myself for being underprepared for this moment.
Steve straps on an electric ukulele shaped like a Gibson Explorer; “this is a joke instrument, never stays in tune, we never realised, but here it is again”. It’s a treat to see the whole crowd head banging to a ukulele, although this is probably the heaviest ukulele song ever. He ditches the dinky axe for the song’s finale and switches to a floor tom while Keith puts a whistle to his lips.
Having played the whole album, and with the crowd baying for more, we are told “this is our last song, the last song we will ever play in Dublin”. In beautiful, shambolic punk style, Steve stops the song in the middle of the second verse. His index finger has cramped up and seized into a fixed position. He massages it back into action and they finish up.
Some bands get lucky. Some become huge despite, or because of, the mundanity of their output. Giveamanakick are a welcome reminder that making good music is its own reward. Their passion blazed brightly and briefly. Tonight they have rekindled the embers and all Whelan’s is aflame.