By Jim Rowland

Artwork for Houndstooth And The Hum by Molly Vulpyne BandDublin’s Molly Vulpyne Band only formed in 2024, following the release of Molly’s solo EP ‘Amortise’, but have already graced stages with the likes of Alexisonfire, Coheed and Cambria, The Vaselines and CKY as well as playing to a packed-out Opera House at Rebellion Festival. Now it’s time for the release of their highly anticipated debut album ‘Houndstooth and the Hum’ via FOAD Musick.

Following the release of the solo EP, Molly Vulpyne expanded her sound with a full band featuring Irish punk veterans Peter Jones (Paranoid Visions), Jay Bagnall (Paranoid Visions, Steve Ignorant Band) and Tony Carberry (The Lee Harveys). Despite being in the music business for ten years now, ‘Houndstooth and the Hum’ is the first ever full-length album Vulpyne has released. Mixing elements of punk and alt-rock, it’s a raw, chaotic but melodic statement that packs a powerful punch.

The moody alt-rock of ‘Hook’ opens the album in fine style with a super-infectious chorus, with the likes of ‘It Don’t Fit’, ‘Inertia Right Hand Man’ and the grinding ‘Ripe’ following similar lines with a 90’s alt-rock/grunge vibe to them. ‘14’ has a bouncy pop edge to it, ‘My Expiry’ more of a catchy hard rock edge with ‘Ur a Fad’ and ‘Ode to your Farewell’ leaning more in a punk rock direction.

It’s all powerful stuff, but just as powerful is the haunting voice/guitar minimalism of ‘I Wanna Be Your Filter’ which highlight’s Vulpyne’s strong, distinctive voice. There have been inevitable comparisons to PJ Harvey, Patti Smith and Garbage so far, and I would probably add L7 to that list too, but this band can clearly stand on their own collective feet, such is the strength of the song writing here, with each of the nine tracks sliding firmly under your skin.