Bobby Aherne aka Dublin Duck Dispensary is a young Ireland lad, “Luanqibazao” his sixth EP of snotty Indiepop psychedelia, the third for Rack & Ruin Netlabel. “Luanqibazao” is Chinese and means “a complete mess”. A good descriptions for the music, indeed! Between Dada lyrics, lo-fi Pop and Plunderpunk, one man outfit Dublin Duck Dispensary populate his own cosy niche.

One thing I like a lot about demos, b-side compilations, live recordings, and, well, certain Netaudio releases is the fact that the music can be quite rough. Unhewn both in sound and songwriting, Dublin Duck Dispensary’s  “Luanqibazao” is a good example for what pearls might easily be overseen upon flighty observation. 13 tracks and drafts for Popsongs to come, much excitement can be found here.

“Bible Stories” is the demo version of an early Arcade Firetune, “Prestidigitation” features lopsided drums and a happy-sad synth melody that makes you think of Nicholas Thorburn’s Unicorns(a big guide very likely!). “I Smell The Blood” is a wonderful guitar-driven Popsong, “Brain Damage” a Wire-style assault of compressed Punk energy. Between a few dubby experiments, “The Death Threat” is another fine Indiepop song you might want to be familiar with. Did I mention the Beta Band for comparison? Stephen Malkmus? Bobby Aherne’s influences are legion, but alltogether he manages to make to sound fresh and unique.

phlow-magazine.com

The latest album from savage one man lo-fi outfit ‘Dublin Duck Dispensary‘ is out today for free, from the bands netlabel Rack and Ruin. The band recently made their live debut with an ultra brief but fantastic set at the poorly organised Hard Working Class Heroes festival. The album is called Luanqibazao (pronounced Loo - an - zi - ba - zow), from a Chinese word meaning ‘a complete mess’. Haven’t had a chance to listen to the rest of the LP yet, but the first ’single’, (i.e.: the first track with a video) is embedded above. Look out for an interview with DDD in the next issue of Analogue.

analoguemagazine.com

Despite Jackie Hayden’s brand of “self-serving tosh‘ in early August, something of a buzz sprang up around a certain band as Hard Working Class Heroes approached. Dublin Duck Dispensary. No one seemed to have heard of them before but everyone planned to check out their set in Academy2. I was shooting Tiger Empire and We Were Promised Jetpacks at the time, did anyone go?

Never mind if you didn’t make it: get past the PR bluster about their Islands-esque sound on www.rackandruinrecords.com and make up your own mind with the free download of Luanqibazao, a new album with the auspicious tag of RRR081 -lucky because I love any number adding to 9. It’s a perfect number!

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Luanqibazao was the best Irish album released this year. I think. Not many will agree. But then they will have had both the advantage of actually listening to a lot of Irish music (I don't really bother keeping up anymore, save GPO and Adebisi) and they will most likely have had the disadvantage of not even knowing this collection exists.

It's been tagged as no-fi. Incorrect. This is fi. It's pop-fi and it's smile-fi. It's gallop-fi and it's fist-fi. It's a selection of timeless pop moments run through a single adventurous, curious mind, that of Bobby Aherne. This isn't about your Times New Vikings and your Lovvers', this is about your Abbas (Mamma Mia!, not Mahmoud) and your early Beatles singles. Peg it with Slanted and Enchanted if you must indie-schmindie it up, but it's far lovelier.

I can't claim to have any idea what Aherne is singing about. I'm content not knowing either. It's his world, after all. The arrangements on these songs are ridiculously more interesting than most others I've heard this year. There's thought going into this, people. Original thought in that most played out of musical arenas.

There are standouts. Happy Holidays fizzes and spazzes. Break A Leg falls over itself in restrained giddiness before becoming something really quite beautiful. Roald Dahl is perfectly-judged childish pop dramatics. Brain Damage shames and embarrasses most contemporary bands in its 25 seconds.

thosegeese.blogspot.com

Dublin Duck Dispensary is Bobby Aherne, a young Irishman who makes music in his bedroom whilst aspiring to sound like a pop group broadcasting to the world from inside a futuristic steel cave. Yykes Basket, his seventh release, is an odd mix of the electronic and dirty folk with a significantly lo-fi feel. The opening 'The What', with its combination of traditional Irish melody, beats, distortion and a distinctly Daniel Johnston-inspired feel, defines most of Yykes Basket. Elsewhere, electronic tunes and synths, fuzzy guitars, shiny glockenspiels and surely lots of listens to Animal Collective help Aherne build his evolved freak-folk universw. Don't miss the slowed surf-pop boogie of 'Shoot The Curl', the brilliantly colourful end of 'DNA' and, high of highs, 'Little World Outside'. Pure and weird delight.

'AU' (Alternative Ulster)