Improv pop outfit The Bonk follow the release of a series of singles last year with debut full-length The Bonk Seems To Be A Verb and a string of live dates, including the appearance of fellow improvisers Fixity to co-headline on the last leg of the tour.
The Bonk perform compositions by bandleader Philip Christie (O Emperor) that mix ’60s garage, jazz and experimental pop influences with recursive rhythms and improvised melodies, all rendered in loose, minimalist song forms. The group launched their debut single Ancestor at Quarter Block Party 2016 in Cork; two further online releases followed. Cipher, their third single to date, was released in April, at which time the band undertook their first comprehensive tour.
Meanwhile, Leeside jazz/improv outfit Fixity are winding down a busy live and recorded year with these dates. Led by visionaire Cork sticksmith Dan Walsh, the band’s body of work includes Live In What Used To Be A Church, recorded in St Luke’s Church in Cork City, while recent album The Things In The Room was recorded in Tambourine Studios, Malmö, and released on the Cork-based label Penske Recordings as a double LP and CD in late 2016.
The Bonk Seems To Be A Verb will be available as a limited edition cassette release on thirtythree-45 from October 6th 2017. The Bonk tour solo and with Fixity throughout the month, dates below:
Tour dates
Oct 7th The Living Room, Drogheda (Bonk Cassette Launch) (10pm, €10)
Oct 12th Bennigan’s, Derry (w/ COMRADE HAT, £8)
Oct 14th Top of The Town, Omagh (£8)
Oct 26th The Sky and The Ground, Wexford (w/FIXITY, 8pm, 10e)
Oct 27th Bello Bar, Dublin (w/FIXITY, 8pm, 10e)
Oct 28th Rogue Gallery, Waterford (w/FIXITY, 8pm, 10e)
Oct 29th The Roundy, Cork (w/FIXITY, 10pm, 12e)
Photography: Emma Kelly
