Liam Finn is a name which really only brings to mind one thing. A bearded, piercing-eyed man bashing vigorously on a drumkit in a church in Dingle as if his life depended on it. It was his appearance on Other Voices that made me pay attention. He came across as a bit more feral than your average artist on that show.
His debut album I’ll Be Lightning was an occasionally-interesting mix of folk, falsettos, electronics and guitar. Plenty of promising ideas. Enough to render the famous-dad syndrome obsolete anyway – his da is Neil Finn of Crowed House. Well the son is back with a six track EP recorded with his musical partner Eliza Jane Barnes called Champagne in Seashells and this is the first track from it. He’s got my attention once again..
Buy Liam Finn’s EP from Amazon.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
Liam Finn’s cool — my kiwi freinds told me he used to play in his father’s band and sing the odd old Crowded Housr or Neil Finn tune and if you weren’t looking at the stage you wouldn’t know, such the similarity in voice.
But obviously compared to his uber-radio friendly tunesmith-machine father, he’s a much more indie-alt-minded singer songwriter. He has spent a bit more time than his father soaking up Kiwi bands such as the Tall Dawrfs and The Clean, I’d say.
Both of whom I should say were excellent bands, now defunct, but worth looking out for…
Check out this song Pirouette by the Tall Dwarfs: Simply AWESOME
You will thank me later 😉