Dott

Irish noise pop outfit Dott fuse the bright, handclap-driven hooks of early-'60s AM radio with the gritty distortion of '90s garage punk, all while channeling intensely personal and occasionally political themes through the commanding vocals of Anna McCarthy.

Songwriter and guitarist McCarthy joined forces with bassist Laura Finnegan and drummer Conor Hickey to launch the group in Galway during the opening months of 2012. Guitarist Nicola Cosgrove soon completed the lineup, and after issuing their first EP, Button, that summer, the quartet hit the festival circuit across Ireland and the U.K. while also debuting stateside in New York. Their hook-laden, fuzz-laden tracks drew the interest of U.S. indie label Graveface Records, which inked the band before the year ended.

With Miriam Donohue stepping in for Cosgrove on guitar, Dott delivered their first full-length, Swoon, in late 2013; Donohue departed shortly afterward, making room for Evan O'Connor.

In 2015 McCarthy and O'Connor fulfilled a shared ambition by relocating to Toronto and getting married. Operating as a duo, they put out the Carousel EP—a 2014 Record Store Day joint release alongside Night School—and followed it a year later with the four-track Beverly Baldwin, captured on four-track in their apartment and featuring guest vocals from Torche’s Andrew Elstner. Roughly twelve months into their North American stay the pair returned to Ireland, where they resumed working with bassist Laura Finnegan and added Donal Finnegan on drums.

The reconstituted quartet turned to their sophomore album in 2017 once McCarthy had spent a solitary week at a West Coast cottage crafting new material and demos. Lyrics centered on escape and the era’s political turbulence, while the music adopted a more layered pop-punk stance. Graveface issued Heart Swell in June 2018, the set boasting a cameo from Speedy Ortiz guitarist Sadie Dupuis.