Dublin’s Def Nettle drops “Mohawk” this Friday, February 20th. The band came up on The Irish Times’ list of new Irish acts to watch back in 2023, and their debut album DN001 earned them spots on BBC Radio 6 Music and RTÉ 2FM, with The Irish Times drawing comparisons to The The and Tom Waits and noting the late Andy Rourke played on one of the tracks.
Lead vocalist and producer Glen Brady has a resume that backs the ambition up: session credits with R.E.M., five years of engineering with the California State Symphony, and time touring with DARK alongside Rourke and the late Dolores O’Riordan. “Mohawk” itself is a self-aware dig at the commercialization of punk imagery, with Brady and rapper Lisa Doyle-Taaffe trading barbs over a groove built by guest guitarist Dissenter Melody, drummer Damien Fox, and bassist Ely Siegel.
Musically, “Mohawk” has more of a pop funk groove than a thrashy punk rhythm section. The punk element is present in the lyrics and narrative, a tongue-in-cheek takedown of punk nostalgia that’s funny precisely because the band is openly implicating themselves in it too. The delivery of that narrative over such an addictive and danceable groove is fresh, and with the addition of those 80s-style wide-sounding guitar lines, it sounds like a new sonic chapter for Def Nettle.
The self-referential angle, poking fun at their own use of retrospection while name-dropping The Cure, The Smiths, and Joy Division in the lyrics, is a smart move. It disarms the obvious criticism before anyone can make it. Following the run of singles last year, “Mohawk” suggests Def Nettle is developing a more confident and distinct version of their own sound, rather than merely wearing their influences on their sleeve.
