Biography
The five-piece instrumental rock ensemble the Redneck Manifesto emerged from Dublin, Ireland, and built a notable commercial audience even though their chosen style offered limited mainstream entry points. Slint, Shellac, and Mogwai stood as central sonic touchstones. As the late-’90s Dublin hardcore community began to dissipate, guitarists Niall Byrne and Mattie Bolger joined bassist Richie Egan and Dundalk-born drummer Mervyn Craig—the only member not native to Dublin—to form the group. Forgoing a vocalist, the quartet launched their own Greyslate Records imprint and delivered their debut single, TRM:1, in 2000. Over the ensuing two years they issued four further singles with parallel titling on assorted independent labels, including split 7"s alongside the Idiots and the Kabinboy, yet the decisive boost arrived through their association with Lyon, France-based redf Records.
Recorded by producer Alan O’Boyle of Dublin electronic outfit Decal, the band’s first album, ThirtySixStrings, appeared jointly via redf in France and Greyslate in Ireland and earned Irish Album of the Year honors from the influential pop-culture zine Event Guide. Their volatile fusion of explosive post-hardcore and asymmetrical jazz melodies echoed the approach that had brought U.S. visibility to acts such as At the Drive-In, though mainland Europe embraced the Redneck Manifesto earliest; consequently the group mounted its first headline tour beyond Ireland in March 2002. To underwrite the journey they prepared an EP for tour sales, but the recording expanded into their second full-length, Cut Your Heart Off from Your Head. Issued within twelve months of ThirtySixStrings, the album was explicitly positioned by the band as its “companion piece.”
Critical praise for the sophomore release, coupled with the arrival of keyboardist Neil O’Connor from the Connect Four Orchestra, led to a headline slot—fittingly above the Mars Volta—on one of five stages at Ireland’s largest festival, Witnness (subsequently renamed Oxegen), in 2003, following the group’s initial South by Southwest appearance in Texas the previous March. That June, Richie Egan issued his first solo outing, Cosmosphere, under the alias Jape on the Volta Sounds label. In September 2004 the Redneck Manifesto delivered its third studio album, I Am Brazil, via Dublin alternative imprint Trust Me, I’m a Thief; tracked in the south of France with producer Dave Odlum—formerly of Kila and the Frames, and co-producer of the latter’s For the Birds alongside Shellac’s Steve Albini—the record adopted a more refined and melodic character. The extended EP Seven Stabs surfaced on Greyslate in April 2006. Shortly afterward each member contributed one track to a further EP released as a free digital download through the band’s website, while attendees of the June 1 Vicar Street performance received a physical edition.
Recorded by producer Alan O’Boyle of Dublin electronic outfit Decal, the band’s first album, ThirtySixStrings, appeared jointly via redf in France and Greyslate in Ireland and earned Irish Album of the Year honors from the influential pop-culture zine Event Guide. Their volatile fusion of explosive post-hardcore and asymmetrical jazz melodies echoed the approach that had brought U.S. visibility to acts such as At the Drive-In, though mainland Europe embraced the Redneck Manifesto earliest; consequently the group mounted its first headline tour beyond Ireland in March 2002. To underwrite the journey they prepared an EP for tour sales, but the recording expanded into their second full-length, Cut Your Heart Off from Your Head. Issued within twelve months of ThirtySixStrings, the album was explicitly positioned by the band as its “companion piece.”
Critical praise for the sophomore release, coupled with the arrival of keyboardist Neil O’Connor from the Connect Four Orchestra, led to a headline slot—fittingly above the Mars Volta—on one of five stages at Ireland’s largest festival, Witnness (subsequently renamed Oxegen), in 2003, following the group’s initial South by Southwest appearance in Texas the previous March. That June, Richie Egan issued his first solo outing, Cosmosphere, under the alias Jape on the Volta Sounds label. In September 2004 the Redneck Manifesto delivered its third studio album, I Am Brazil, via Dublin alternative imprint Trust Me, I’m a Thief; tracked in the south of France with producer Dave Odlum—formerly of Kila and the Frames, and co-producer of the latter’s For the Birds alongside Shellac’s Steve Albini—the record adopted a more refined and melodic character. The extended EP Seven Stabs surfaced on Greyslate in April 2006. Shortly afterward each member contributed one track to a further EP released as a free digital download through the band’s website, while attendees of the June 1 Vicar Street performance received a physical edition.
Albums