Chucky's River at The Twisted Pepper

Chucky’s River

And Guests Bocs Social

The Twisted Pepper

Angela Macari O’Looney

From Gorey, Co. Wexford, Chucky’s River are an Alt/Indie/Rock band. Together since 2008, they have come a long way. Since the release of their debut E.P. Personality Crash in ’09, they’ve recruited a new member; Virtuoso guitarist and multi musician Damien Walsh.
I reviewed Personality Crash and found it very intriguing, with amazing guitars and Diarmuid’s astounding vocal style that is perfect for belting out the quirky lyrics and complex melody lines in each song.
Members of Chucky’s River are Diarmuid Comerford-Vocals/Guitars, Conor Stafford-Drums/Percussion, Damien Walsh-Guitars/Sax/Vocals and Cupie-Bass/Vocals. All members of this act really get involved in every number and when I heard they were performing some new unheard material live, I couldn’t resist going down for a listen!

Bocs Social

Opening up the show was a brilliant band, who totally won the hearts of the audience and played a superb and unforgettable set. From Wicklow, they perform Ska/ Reggae/ Pop and bring me back to my Madness days. Once you hear those manic beats and a sensational brass section, it really does something to you!
With seven members, you get a huge sound and the lead vocalist is a total nutcase, but can certainly entertain.
Members of Bocs Social are Neal Murphy (Guitar/Vocals), Ruairi Clarke (Bass/Vocals), Dermot O’Flaherty(Guitars), Aoife Pedroschi (Drums), Karol Ryan (Trumpet) and Rory Devitt (Keys). Joining them onstage was Damien Walsh on Sax.

Boris Karlov was their first number. This involved a lot of instrumental and the Sax and Trumpet were excellent.

Radio was their second song and I admired Aoife’s fab performance on drums. It’s rare to see a female drummer, but doing all those choppy Ska beats and rolls requires quite a genius. So I found this added to the band’s charm.

Social life was their third song. It’s dancey and fun and the tongue in cheek lyrics are about life on the dole. It was hard to resist jumping up and bouncing about to this number. Only two fellas were brave enough to get into the beat and I was so tempted to join them!

I was a man (Jape Cover)

Ruairi took the lead vocals for this upbeat song. Being fond of Jape, who won the 2008 choice music awards, I really enjoyed this song. Backing vocals were performed by the rest of the band.

They did No place else to go, Abbey St. and a brilliant song called Let’s lose 10 lbs.

Violence involves a fab intro done on sax and trumpet. They play a siren type riff and it is performed with such passion and conviction, you’re drawn into the mood. I love this one in particular, but I actually found each song magical.

They really got the crowd going and did their new single Shot one and finished up with Monkey Man.

Chucky’s River

Joining Chucky’s river this evening was drummer Stephen Rooney, who replaced their usual drummer Conor Stafford due to an injury he’s still recovering from.
They opened up with Get it right. This has a catchy riff intro and an alternating tempo. Guitars perform grunge style in sync parts throughout and Damo’s lead vocals are astounding here.

The Darkest Knight -This is yet another one of the band’s new repertoire. Cupie performs lead vox. It involves a sung intro and amazing three part harmony. Distortion charged chords and incredible twin riffs throughout give it that extra kick. Damien performs an elaborate lead solo and there’s loads going on for this entire number!

Broken Glass - Damien sings this with Diarmuid performing harmony. Cupie adds further harmony and the full sound is really impressive here.

Zumo

A wonderful opening riff takes you into this song. It’s melodic and catchy, with riveting guitars and in particular Damien’s solo. Diarmuid features on vocals and has a very distinctive voice. Backing vocals are extremely effective as this number progresses. The overall sound is great and I’m crazy about the riff. It’s a sure-fire hit in the making!

Diarmuid continues the set with Step up. I love the choppy beat in this, the fab lead with a trickling style mood to it and Damien and Cupie perform some sweet in sync riffs throughout.

Cupie came to the front of the stage for The Rocker. This man is a diamond in the rough. I absolutely adore his voice and his delivery. A bashing intro with distortion laden guitars makes you stand up and take notice. It’s packed with NRG and Damo does a solo that is show-stopping. I’m gob smacked as I watch his fingers fly across the guitar frets, with all kinds of bends and slides in between. He’s exciting to watch and a valuable addition to Chucky’s River.

Weights was next, with a fun beat that alternates. It’s a complex piece with rocking riffs and the drummer shining as he does some superb chops and changes to delight the listener. Diarmuid does a lovely lead break. Damien comes in with his sax, which also increases the dynamic. It’s a brave gesture for the lads to strike out and do songs that haven’t been heard or released yet, but it was working and going down a treat with the audience. This new material has influences such as Gomez, Neill Young, Paul Weller and NHCP injected into it.

Lines of your Mind – With a three four tempo at the beginning, this number changes into an interesting rhapsody type song. Damo performs further impressive guitar. I like how the beat returns to the three four tempo again for a short spate, then you’re taken back to the rock tempo again. It’s like a roller coaster ride of sorts, with fab chord combinations, the magical baseline and beat framing the moment perfectly!

Brain with its cool intro is a stompin’ song. This is sung by Damien and Diarmuid. Cupie joins in for the chorus and the sound is immense. Once again Damien wields his magic on lead guitar, with a solo that would make Brian May quake in his boots!
I particularly enjoy the big crescendo style ending to this number.

Another Day

Conor Stafford comes onstage for this song and adds to the band with his bongo playing technique. Damo features doing lead vocals and it’s a Creedence Clearwater revival style number that has that seductive quality I like.
There’s a sung refrain; Yeah, yeah. This is performed by Diarmuid and Cupie. Damo’s vocals are so different from Diarmuid and Cupie, but the combination of three amazing singers, who also have fantastic ability as musicians, is the jewel in the crown for this band.

The last song of the set was Boundarby which features Diarmuid doing vocals. He thanked the audience and also gave big thanks to the support band Bocs Social. He plays tambourine as he does the verse. Damien plays crazy discords and then a powerful chorus is sung in three parts. Guitars are smokin’ throughout, with Damien doing a Jimi Hendrix trick using his teeth across the guitar frets. Ouch!
But it works and the band get a fantastic reaction from the crowd.

I am so looking forward to seeing this brilliant repertoire of songs on CD. And I truly enjoyed this entertaining night and felt quite honoured to be at a gig where both the headline act and support band were top of the range!