Back in 1969 the MC5 let loose a rallying cry of ‘Kick out jams!’ before tearing into one of the most electrifying songs ever. It’s this energy and bombast The Donnys channel on their new spikey garage rock single ‘The Mailing List’. Intent on pulling the people out of their seats and to break the disenfranchised Lollapalooza slacker sway, the band thrash and wrestle their instruments, pulling every note out of them as if their lives depended on it. It’s no surprise that Hot Press dubbed them ‘Raucous rhythm and blues.’
The Donnys – The Mailing List (Spotify Link)
This is the band’s first single since 2024’s whirling dervish of an album ‘Get Active’. On new single ‘The Mailing List’ we find the band honing their song writing skills, resulting in a much more direct and refined approach, while still maintaining the visceral energy, as they exorcise the electricity stored within their bodies. Coming in at a trim 3 and a half minutes The Donnys waste no time in dialling up the energy. Based around a 12 bars blues progression, the insistent lead guitar line that starts heads bobbing from the outset, gives way a foundation shaking garage stomp, that almost hypnotically, pulls people out of their seats. A key change helps change moods as the band pull it back for the middle of the section, before the satisfying explosion as the band kick back. A flurry of over driven guitars, machine gun drum fills and a bass line that both anchors the track and acts as a melodic counter part for the vocals.
Lyrically Oisin says, “The lyrics came from an old notebook I had from when I was 14 or 15 and from what I can remember it’s about feeling like I was always screwing up in a relationship I was in around that time. Although looking back now I wasn’t doing anything at all.” While the band wear some of their historic influences proudly, the aforementioned MC5, Stooges, Deadboys, Thin Lizzy etc they also look closer to home for inspiration. Bands such as New Pagans and Adore help shape and push the band.
The theme of keeping it local runs to the artwork, which is based off a two pence Irish stamp. A short promo video for the track, uses clips from a 1975 Newsround broadcast. This features a west Cork postman by the name of Mike Sheehan, who at that time still completed his 30 mile delivery route by bicycle, despite his two colleagues having switched to motorbike and motorcar.
In true garage rock style, the band keep it DIY when it comes to the recording process. Invading Oisin’s house in Kilkenny and running cable from room to room allowing the band to capture the track the live while eliminating bleed. The band felt it was important to capture the energy and feeling of the track eschewing a click track or gridding the performance out on Protools. The result is an adrenaline fuelled three minutes of pure expression by means of garage rock.