Music:
Member Since: 10/25/2005
Band Website: darkroomnotes.com
Band Members:Ronan Gaughan - Vox, Guitar, Synth
Ruairi Ferrie - Vox, Guitar, Synth, Programming
Arran Murphy - Vox, Synth
Camera Shanahan - Drums
Influences: Adam & The Ants, Boards Of Canada, The Clash, David Bowie, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Fleetwood Mac, Grandaddy, Hot Chip, Iggy Pop, The Jam, Kraftwerk, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Nirvana, OMD, Prince, QOTSA, Roxy Music, The Smiths, Talking Heads, Underworld, Velvet Underground, The Who, XTC, Yo La Tengo, ZZ Top.
Sounds Like: Motley Magazine
Brooding danceable electro-rock so cool that if these songs were people with sunglasses, they would wear those sunglasses at night.
Mongrel
Like a hands-on-ass kiss in the back of a steamy nightclub, the Dark Room Notes EP starts off slow but gives you the feeling that as the night wears on, you will probably get laid... Pretty soon DRN won't need a quickie with the likes of us.
Sputnikmusic.com
The production value on the four songs which make up their debut EP, Dead Start Program, is impeccable and, hackneyed though the ‘indie electronic’ tag has become, the group do have something of a distinctive sound, mainly due to the unusual (for the genre) vocals of singer/guitarist Ronan Gaughan.... it does neatly sum up the range and sonic versatility Dark Room Notes can display in a very short space of time. The influences are obvious, but rarely do the group sound like they’re imitating the groups they reference. The only real complaint that can be offered about Dead Start Program is that at just four tracks, and fifteen minutes, it feels almost like a meal half-finished, begging for more. ****
Clare People
Polished doesn't even come close to describing it... In 'Slow Puncture', DRN look to have found an easy successor to breakthrough single 'Love Like Nicotine' in the anthemic stakes. But its in the EP final track 'Shake Shake My Ceiling' that I think DRN will find a way into mainstream success and radio playlists. You see if I'm wrong. 8/10
The Irish Times - The Ticket
Two years after the smoking ban, this Dublin quartet are still feeling the craving. Might as well face it, they're addicted to love. What better way to distract the mind than by writing a killer indie-rock tune and making a video in Temple Bar that climaxes in a choreographed line-dance routine a la OK Go? In a word, smokin'. ****
Edel Coffey - Phantom FM & The Irish Independent
Dark Room Notes, true to their name, sing dark songs of obsession, addiction, lust and passion. Despite this, they manage to be strangely uplifting, the songs buoyed along on a wave of electro-indie and male-female vocals calling to mind Human League and Joy Division. Dark Room Notes are a smart and stylish young band, exciting and exhilarating with sophisticated tunes to boot.
Entertainment.ie
Not only are Dark Room Notes in possession of perhaps the coolest band name of 2007 (if you like that sort of thing), their debut single - the so-hip-it's-in-need-of-a-replacement Love Like Nicotine - is equally as marvellous as their opaque moniker. It's a superb, dark, danceable, funky, sleazy synth-riddled, uptempo indie track that recalls both Interpol without the monotone Ian Curtis-esque vocals and Bloc Party without the overly studious art-rock sound, all coated in a thick layer of experimental, yet not alienating fuzz. B-sides include a stripped-down remix of the track by Trixton, and an eerie sci-fi compound by U2/Depeche Mode producer Flood. For a debut single, it's not only scarily accomplished, but also one of the best of the year so far.
The Torture Garden
...this is a song wrapped inside its own dramatic self. Dark, love, nicotine - you may already have an idea of what it sounds like. Still, there's enough talent at work here to take an old sound and make it new, to craft a melody that easily hooks you in, and build up the tension to a nervy chorus. It's been a while since I heard a song that scratched this particular itch so well. It's something like Interpol but with genuine personality and the same forwardness, and keyboard-playing that reaches back two decades to find just the right notes for the feeling that runs underneath this like a tunnel, or a vein. It genuinely improves with repeated listening... It looks like it's going to be a mighty year for Irish music.
Star Scene
The Dublin music scene is in rude health at the moment, not least due to the explosion of new, original and wholly modern bands. Leading the pack are newcomers Dark Room Notes who create music as intimate and dark as their name might suggest. Channeling the likes of Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine and Depeche Mode, the three boys and one girl recently released their blistering synth-driven single, Love Like Nicotine. It's certainly an exciting taste of great things to come - layered, complex and unique, this is electro-indie pop at its loveliest. With buzz growing on the young noiseniks by the day, expect their handful of Irish dates in early June to be rather memorable indeed.
In Dublin - Live Review
Upon hearing their stunning opener Broken Nail, its apparent we're in the presence of a band who demand to be watched with the same intensity that they apply to their performance and writing... In fact, such is the outfit's natural pop sensitivity, that their brilliant single is far from their finest moment. This dark, sophisticated and superior homegrown pop is precisely what our undernourished chart has been screaming out for.
Hot Press
"Love Like Nicotine", the exciting single from Dublin-based Dark Room Notes, is a classy and hugely promising debut for this electro-rock four-piece. The swooping intro immediately grabs your attention, the chorus is catchy, and the vocals are intense throughout.... Dark Room Notes are a welcome addition to our radios: sharp, edgy, seamless electro-rock. More of the same please.
NME Ireland
If the music industry is just, and we all know that it's not, then some corner of 2007 must surely belong to Dark Room Notes. You heard it here first.
Dublin Event Guide
Each gig the band play is accompanied by an intense air of anticipation: an anticipation which was transfered to the recent release of their debut single. 'Love Like Nicotine' lives up to even the highest expectations. The influence of classic 80s pop is strong, while a convincing new electronica base fortifies the song's place in the annals of this decades alternative.
Galway Entertainment Guide - Single of the Week
Having gigged everywhere from Galway (Roisin Dubh and support to Psapp in Cuba) to Berlin over the last year the Dublin based foursome with a Galway connection (two of the lads hail from the musical hotbed of Menlo) come good on all the hype surrounding them with their excellent debut single "Love Like Nicotine". Insistent guitars, melodic synths and driving drums come together in an infectiously catchy perfect electronic indie pop way. Expect big things!
The Sun
Dark Room Notes feel like they have been on the scene since keyboards first morphed from piano ties. This latest offering is electro rock at its finest and is destined to take the Dublin music scene by force.
Record Label: Gonzo
Type of Label: Indie
