First Class & Coach - My Oh My (single)
Formed in 2017 by Reuben Maher (guitars, keys, vox) , Jonathan Parson (bass), Geraldine Thomas (vox) and Andrew McNeilage (drums) - their early gigs fused hard-edged guitar sounds with ambient keys, digital samples, and dance rhythms. These formative shows led the band towards honing their sound - immediate, distorted guitar hooks, driving bass lines, muscular drums and uncompromising vocals, delivered in both English and German.
The band enlisted Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu) of StudioG in Brooklyn to produce their debut album. The Truth About Honey’ was released on February 14th 2020 on vinyl, CD & Digital and received favourable reviews in both the Irish and German press. Among them, Dan Hegarty (RTE2fm) named ‘The Truth About Honey’ in his Top 5 Irish Albums of 2020.
With the advent of a global pandemic, live tour plans were shelved, yet the band continued to write new material, resulting in recording their second album in Black Box Studios, France - with Tony Maimone again at the controls. The new record ‘Neon Hip’ is due for release later in 2022 on FIFA Records.
My Oh My is the first single to be taken from the bands forthcoming album. While this track is at first catchy and exciting, just below the surface is FC&C's trademark biting intensity. The bands unusual sonic textures and guitar-based noise makes them welcome gate crashers into an otherwise predictable mainstream musical landscape.
The song came bursting out at a FC&C rehearsal. It deals with love and loss, words that had to be said out loud. There is psychological relief through the expression of raw emotions which inadvertently found their escape in the form of this song. There's a catchy riff at the start of the song and it guides us through the whole piece. The lead vocal screams rather than sings but it feels appropriate, highlighting certain parts of the song. The volume gets louder in the chorus, sometimes overshadowing the words. But the key words are said, the message is still there.
FIFA Records,while maintaining an independent ethos, puts a huge focus on building strong working relationships and partnerships with the artists and by working with locally owned businesses to ensure it sustains a vibrant infrastructure in a web of economic and social relationships. The aim, to benefit not only the artists but to contribute in its own small way to a sustainable local and national economy which it believes is critical in the current environment. The label also has an international dynamic, forging links with multiple media outlets and with several independent record labels around the world - Elefant Records (Spain), Vinyl Junkie (Japan), Secret Crush Records (US), Small room (Thailand) Pop Lane/Ra N Bo (France), Stargazer (Germany) Big Tea Records (UK).