Irish gigs round-up

CONVEXTION: Tengu, Dublin, tonight.

Describing himself as “willingly anonymous”, Dallas producer Gerard Hanson works under two aliases and has been sporadically releasing since the mid-90s — fast-paced electro as E.R.P. and graceful sci-fi techno as Convextion.

With as much of a cult built around him as Detroit electro legends Drexciya, expect this one to sell out, as people come from all over to hit Tengu.

The Undertones: Roisin Dubh, Galway, tonight

Like The Who singing My Generation for 50 years, there’s no such thing as growing old gracefully in the world of the Undertones — who’ll still be playing Teenage Kicks as their encore tonight.

But classic songs are still classics, and the Derry punk hit is still a contender for one of the greatest Irish singles ever.

After splitting in 1983, they reformed with Paul McLoone replacing Feargal Sharkey, and they’ve released two albums since then — but it’s the garage punk-pop of the late 70s that gets the most cheers.

Fiction Peaks, Pillow Queens Bello Bar, Dublin, tomorrow

Dublin five-piece Fiction Peaks have just released their debut album Citizen after four years of drip-feeding breezy indie with a hints of folky electronica and country.

They’re joined in Bello Bar by Dublin-based Pillow Queens — a way more raucous affair, with hints of garage, alt-rock and lo-fi grunge rock on their debut EP Calm Girls.

Holy F**K: Roisin Dubh, Galway, Monday; Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick, Wednesday & Empire, Belfast, Thursday

It’s one of the quietest weeks we can remember in Dublin, and to rub it in even more, Holy Fuck are playing three Irish gigs and avoiding the Fair City.

The Toronto act tackle electronica with a real punk spirit — without laptops, proper sequencers, loops or electronic instruments, preferring to use kids’ pianos and modified electric toys along with guitars, bass and drums.

The result is an anything-goes set-up that strays off the 4/4 dance music grid, like a fuzzy and playful krautrock-inspired noise. Latest single Bird Brains carries on the tradition — sounding like The Fall covering Primal Scream, incoherent, muffled vocals and all.