If I was good at this I would have posted this yesterday, although maybe that’s not really the vibe to peg an entire region’s cultural output to a fun little holiday, all love and respect to St. Patrick or maybe honestly not that much love or respect to him, Pagans are cool?
ANYWAY I’ve been noting with interest how much incredible music is coming out of Ireland these days so I thought I would ask three artists from Ireland that I love to give us their recs, because I figured they know ball a bit more than I do (I can’t even drink more than one and a half pints of Guinness, absolutely shameful).
Here are some fab recommendations from rockers Cardinals, singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside, and actor Lola Petticrew:
CARDINALS
This quintet from Cork is Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C.’s favorite Irish band. I love their poppy, post-punky, goth-tinged rock, especially with the addition of traditional Celtic elements (particularly that goddamn gorgeous accordion). Their debut album Masquerade is soooo good. It’s romantic, it’s dramatic, it’s catchy, she’s got it all babe.
Their recs:
Olan Monk is a rock musician from Connemara, in the west of Ireland. Their album ‘Songs For Nothing’ came out in late 2025. The record is stacked with fascinating instrumentation and features the textures of accordions, violins and whistles. The guitar lines ooze cool and the vocal deliveries give the record a very gothic feel. Maria Somerville also features on the record, who put out her own album ‘Luster’ last year. (A phenomenal album)
Cellbridge rapper deathtoricky really excites me at the moment. His record #ikfly has a really infectious feel to it. Coming in hot with 12 tracks in 21 minutes, it’s super fun stuff. The production on his tracks have a fresh yet timeless feel to them. Head rocking drums, 808s, and catchy samples are all over his music. Favourites of mine include ‘ryanair’ ‘polo’ and ‘quest’.
Pebbledash are a noise rock band from Cork. Their last two EPs are really stunning. Vocals from members Fionnbhar Hickey and Asha McCutcheon have this really nice call and response feel to them which is a particular highlight of their live set. They’ve always reminded me hugely of Sonic Youth, but they have a tendency to nod towards Irish traditional music. I’ve always thought this was a hard thing to do right that many try and fail to do. Pebbledash capture it so well and with so much class. Favourites for me are ‘Asha’s Waltz’, ‘Cartography’, ‘Tiles & Moss’ and their rendition of the traditional O’Carolan composition ‘Sí bheag sí Mhór’
Rua Rí is a Cork based folk artist who plays a mix of original music and lesser known folk songs. His voice has a dreamy quality to it, he has a unique presence on stage and you can’t help but feel drawn in by his live performances. His guitar work is amazing, employing complex fingerpicking patterns and does not shy away from harmonics. I believe he has an album coming out this year. If you listen to anything at all this year, make sure it’s that record. The last working title I heard about was ‘tell your ma I saved your life’.
LOLA PETTICREW
Lola is annoying because not only are they a god tier actress (please watch Say Nothing if you haven’t yet) they are also extremely funny and have incredible taste, not limited to but including music? They’re a real fucking head and I absolutely trust their taste. I can’t wait to watch them in the forthcoming Assassin’s Creed show.
Their recs:
NewDad (ed note: been so into this band for a while - just gorgeous, gossamer, muscular shoegaze/dream-pop)
Gurriers (ed note: omg I love this band ty Lola)
JOSHUA BURNSIDE
This Northern-Irish folk singer’s music pretty reliably makes me cry. It reminds me of the best parts of early Bon Iver with a bit Phil Elverum and a splash of Neutral Milk Hotel (real weeping hours). His new album It’s Not Going To Be Okay is out on March 20th and I cannot wait (to saturate myself in sadness).
His recs:
The Deadlians (ed note: okay this rips)
And here is a playlist for you
Slán!
I am late to reading this post, and I also have a not so recent band addition: Whipping Boy. They only made three albums between the late 80s to early 90s. Their second album, Heartworm, was AMAZING and was on a lot of best of lists! Really powerful, emotional songs.
Sprints! ❤️