Indiependence Festival
Michelstown, County Cork
29/07/2011 – 31/07/2011

Headliners Editors are labouring under the belief that Indiependence is a festival in honour of Irish liberation (“happy Independence Day everyone”). They’re wrong: the dingy, slightly droney sound of the Staffordshire lads and the vividly effervescent socio-political hip-hop of Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip make up the entire international contingent of this localized bill, one that pointedly reads like a who’s who of vaguely non-mainstream music in 21st century Ireland.
There are plenty of nostalgic moments to be had here, too. Ash throw down a 16-again greatest hits set, and Therapy? remind us of why we once likened them to Nirvana, but it’s the less-touted acts that really steal the limelight. Instrumental pair Enemies (the very definition of the cliché ‘big in Japan’) and Rest are the early pacesetters, serving up a quiet Friday’s tasty highlights.

Come Saturday, things are in full swing. Ham Sandwich takes plentiful cues from Wayne Coyne’s world of confetti, bouncy balls and lush, angst-pop melodies. Whipping Boy brings back more Irish adolescent angst than a post-teenage-heartbreak bottle of Buckfast, with their tense, Velvet Underground inspired sound releasing a small tornado down the front. Elsewhere, the dreamy electro-atmospherics of Sacred Animals and dingy break-up dirtiness of local lads Zombie Computer offset the rock leanings nicely.

By the time Sunday rolls around, the local Aldi’s sale of ‘Disco Biscuits’ (actual chocolate cookies) has become a festival in-joke, and the whole tiny town seems to be blissing out. The swirling, jagged atmospherics of Belfast (instru)mentalists And So I Watch You From Afar emphasizes why they’re touted as Ireland’s great white hope, after bouncy pop youngsters Miracle Bell show sporadic touches of genius. Two-piece We Cut Corners are lyrically intoxicating, while The Minutes snarl and strut their way through a bout of Electric Six-comparable dirtiness. Indiependence is all very saccharine and green-tinged, but by going local, the festival highlights just how high the Irish music scene’s flying.

James Hendicott