September Girls

Dublin-based five-piece September Girls brought together darkened noise-pop melodies awash with garage rock overtones in the same vein as Veronica Falls and Vivian Girls. The all-girl outfit was formed in 2011 by friends Paula Cullen (bass, vocals), Caoimhe Derwin (guitar vocals), Lauren Kerchner (keyboard, vocals), Jessie Ward (guitar, vocals), and Sarah Grimes (drums), and took influences from '90s shoegazers My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain, as well as Phil Spector-inspired lush harmonies, which rose above their fuzzy distortion and thudding drums. Their reverb-soaked vocal melodies were offset by gritty guitars and droning organs that drew comparisons with tourmates PINS. A handful of singles were released on various indie labels throughout 2012, including a cassette on PINS' own label, Haus of Pins, and a 7" single on California-based label Matinée, before Fortuna Pop picked them up. In 2013 the band returned to Dublin where they wrote and recorded their debut full-length album, Cursing the Sea; it was released in early 2014 and followed later that same year by the four-song EP Veneer.