NERVES RELEASE HAUNTING NEW EP IARMHAIREACHT PRODUCED BY GILLA BAND’S DANIEL FOX
Nerves by Erin Plaice
Today, West Irish avant-punks Nerves release their second EP Iarmhaireacht, produced by long-time collaborator Daniel Fox (Gilla Band). Out now, the record expands the volatile, genre-bending sound the quartet carved on last year’s Glórach, digging deeper into the intersections of personal collapse, cultural memory, and the slow erosion of rural Ireland.
Taking its title from an untranslatable Irish phrase that loosely means “the uncanny loneliness felt at first light”, Iarmhaireacht is both diaristic and political in scope. Across eight tracks, Nerves weave abrasive noise rock, industrial rhythms, and ambient electronics with archival samples from Irish folklore, RTÉ documentaries, and pub conversations – voices from decades past that speak uncannily to the present.
Listen to Iarmhaireacht HERE
Speaking on the EP, vocalist Kyle Thornton said: “‘Iarmhaireacht’ is a culmination of the progress we have made as a band in the last year and a half. It’s a project that we feel very accurately encompasses all the different sides of this band musically and thematically. The songs are all intensely personal but alongside the samples we use from old Irish media and folklore archives we can create a secondary narrative that speaks to broader societal issues that face young people in Ireland now and in the past. The release of this EP finally brings our recorded output up to date and we feel like this acts as a mission statement for going forward. We’re all incredibly proud of how it has turned out and would like to thank Dan Fox, Jamie Hyland and NRTHRD for helping us get this over the line.”
Thematically, Iarmhaireacht wrestles with mental illness, addiction, grief, and the frayed bonds of love – not as isolated experiences, but as symptoms of broader social decay. The band’s upbringing in rural County Mayo hangs heavy over the record, a place where economic stagnation and mass emigration hollow out communities, and where cultural pride must live in spite of governmental neglect.
From the industrial chaos of debut single “Dirty Fingers” (hitting rock bottom and clawing out), to the corrosive tension of “Takes A Second” (the death knell of a relationship), to the ambient-techno-inflected closer “Don’t Let Go” (a final, defiant scream into the void), the EP shifts between confrontation and surrender, brutality and tenderness. Interludes like “Iarmhar” and “Neifinn” deepen the atmosphere, connecting personal narratives to centuries-old Irish storytelling traditions.
Musically, Iarmhaireacht is the band’s most varied and ambitious work yet – dissonant guitars bent out of tune to create nausea-inducing tension, propulsive rhythms that blur the line between punk and dance music, and moments of fragile restraint that amplify the impact when the chaos returns.
The record is also a reclamation of Irish identity through an inclusive, left-wing lens: Ogham script on the cover art, traditional wren-boys’ dress on the singles, Irish-language titles, and folkloric samples used not as nostalgia but as living, breathing culture.
With Iarmhaireacht, Nerves cement their reputation as one of Ireland’s most urgent and uncompromising new acts – a band equally at home in moments of noise-scorched catharsis and stark, haunted stillness.
Iarmhaireacht artwork