The Riot Tapes debut Single Photograph
Out of Dublin, The Riot Tapes came to fruition in 2009 created by Chris O’Brien and Elaine Doyle. There is an interesting story behind that formation, which I will get round to in a fuller review of the band in the near future. For now fast forward to 2011 and the debut single Photograph has just hit the stores.
The Riot Tapes | Photograph
Strangulated guitars open the track which is quickly warmed by velvet cream vocals and Photograph is away on a bed of duck down,but it isn’t all a gentle ride. Some well constructed breaks add a dimpled dimension to the single as the intensity of the music builds.
This debut release explains why The Riot Tapes are being so well received in Dublin and it shouldn’t take too long for that fervour to spread wider. Photograph finds the outfit confidently striding across a range of instrumentation and sound-casts to shine an interesting light that has all the signals of a band who have been around for a while. It certainly helps that Chris has that experience, but I can think of many bands who would be delighted to reach this level of confidence to explore, after a string of releases behind them.
A great test of a single is to play it a few times to back to back to find out if every note and chord has been heard, Photograph passes the acid test with a good mark, as more layers are revealed on each re-run. Of more importance than the geek guide to over-play, does it work on the first listen – for sure. There is plenty to keep the ears engaged and hoping that the 3:50 play-time doesn’t come too soon.
Mostar Records are pretty busy with releases at present, I just must get Luke to let me have a fuller video to play alongside their releases – they sound like they have some interesting music to showcase.
Photograph is available on 
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