The Minutes: Marcata
Model Citizen Records
Released: 20th May 2011
34mins.
5 stars.
The Minutes are a band that has really started to make a name for themselves, certainly in the last year or so. On their Facebook page they recently posted that they were on their 62nd show of the year so far. If you were at either one of the growing number of music festivals in Ireland this year, chances are you had the chance to check this band out for yourself. They are a 3-piece band from Dublin, consisting of Mark Austin, on guitar and vocals, Shane Kinsella on drums and Tom Cosgrave on bass and vocals.
‘Marcata’ is the band’s first album after a string of singles, and for me it’s a real sign of the high quality of talent this country has to offer. The album starts off with ‘Monster’, a kind of instrumental overture if you like, for the rest of the album. Its big, it’s powerful, and it’s a perfect intro to the album. Leading on to the brass intro and power chords of ‘Black Keys’, a track where the trio really show their mettle and their attitude, even by including revving motorbikes. The vocals of Mark Austin seem to suit perfectly the style of the music they play. There’s a real blues vibe about it, but it’s delivered in a kind of punk-ish package, which of course isn’t a new thing but they pull it off very well. There are some nice power-chord riffs in there, gritty guitar licks and powerful bass lines and drumming to back it all up, then on top of it all you have Mark’s vocals, and he really gives it his all.
This is just a really exciting album, one of those albums you have to play as loud as you possibly can and I think that’s really important. One of the biggest sounding tracks on the album is Track 10, Guilt Quilt. With the right sized sound system the bass-line in this song would really rumble straight through your gut. It’s deep and it’s dirty but along with the vocals and high-pitched squeals of the guitar you really get an excellent example of how this trio click so well to create such an exciting sound.
This is a band with its roots in rock and blues, proven by their own version of blues classic, ‘In my Time of Dying’, but they also have their roots in Irish rock. They have bands such as Thin Lizzy as their principle sources of influence, and I think that is very important because I am personally very excited about this band. They may very well be this generation’s equivalent of bands like Thin Lizzy, and hopefully will put Ireland back on the map in terms of top quality rock music.