Gurriers aim at political hypocrisy on ‘Party Lines’, while Makeshift Art Bar return with ‘Marionette’

Dublin band Gurriers have shared ‘Party Lines’, a new single that takes direct aim at political hypocrisy. The track arrives with a video directed by Thomas James. It continues the group’s habit of turning frustration into compact, sharp-cornered punk that doesn’t waste time on subtlety.

Further north, Belfast four-piece Makeshift Art Bar are making a very different kind of racket. Their second EP, ‘Marionette’, lands with the kind of punishing noise that still manages to stay on the enjoyable side of abrasive. Ask them to explain the ideas behind it and they’d rather not. Throughout the release, they field the big questions and bat nearly all of them back, letting the volume do the talking.

Both releases sharpen the picture of Irish guitar music in 2025: one band shouting into the political void with clarity, the other building a wall of distortion and stepping behind it. No grand statements, just two sets of songs that know exactly what they’re pushing against.