Gilla Band

The Dublin-formed noisy indie rock quartet Gilla Band, which originally performed under the name Girl Band, built its reputation on a dense blend of six-string distortion, electronic manipulation, hard rhythms, and surreal lyrics. Although the intensity of their approach could repel more cautious listeners, moments of wit surface beneath the abrasive textures, helping the group cultivate a devoted cult audience. Their 2015 debut album Holding Hands with Jamie established the blueprint for their ferocious noise rock, while 2019’s The Talkies shifted toward more intimate lyrics shaped by vocalist Dara Kiely’s mental health challenges, and 2022’s Most Normal tightened the arrangements without softening the fury.

The four musicians—Dara Kiely on vocals, Alan Duggan on guitar, Daniel Fox on bass, and Adam Faulkner on drums—came together in Dublin at the end of 2011. Their first single, “In My Head,” surfaced as a free download in April 2012 and quickly attracted online attention. Drawing from sources as varied as the Bad Brains, the Contortions, Neu!, and the Chemical Brothers, the band spent its early months gigging across Ireland and cutting an EP. The self-produced France 98, recorded live and issued in a run of 300 copies on 12" vinyl via Any Other City, featured the propulsive track “You’re a Dog.” Soon afterward they tackled techno producer Blawan’s “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?,” a move that broadened their reach and led to several U.K. shows in April 2013.

A succession of limited 7" singles appeared on Any Other City in 2014. In 2015 Rough Trade collected those sides, along with the Blawan cover, on the EP The Early Years—though none of the 2012 material was included. The group’s self-produced full-length debut, Holding Hands with Jamie, followed on Rough Trade that September. Midway through 2016 they canceled all remaining live commitments for health reasons and maintained near-total online silence, prompting widespread speculation that they had disbanded. In 2019 they surprised observers by revealing they had quietly completed another album, The Talkies, at Ballintubbert House outside Dublin. Their first live release, Live at Vicar St., documented two nights recorded at the Dublin venue in 2019 and appeared the following year.

When the COVID-19 pandemic erased their touring plans in 2020, the band suddenly had uninterrupted time to develop a third studio album. Contemporary hip-hop production methods supplied fresh ideas—“there’s really heavy-handed production and they’re messing with the track the whole time,” noted Daniel Fox—resulting in a more compact yet still punishing and structurally unpredictable record. Most Normal emerged in October 2022, prompting extensive U.K. and European dates plus U.S. shows in 2023.