Gurriers are vexing modern day headaches with consciously chaotic earworms

Fire was burning underneath the city for a while before it found its way up to the surface, as Gurriers vocalist Dan Hoff tells me, “it felt like people were getting a lot more aggressive, there was this feeling of unease in certain areas in Dublin. O'Connell Street is almost like a no-go zone for some people [now], which should be [one of the] main streets in Dublin. It has this left to its own devices kind of feeling.”

The disorder in the city where they formed inspired Gurriers’ rip roaring "Close Call", a mosh pit summoning, two-minute alarm signal taken from their debut record Come And See. At the time of writing, the United Kingdom has just been reeling from a slew of fascist riots across its towns and cities, which Dublin saw itself in July this year, “since ['Close Call’s'] release, there’s been a lot of racial hatred towards refugees and immigrants in Dublin that we have not expected in a long time,” Hoff continues, “the song still stands as it is now.”

"Close Call" is just one of 11 tracks on Come And See that confront some aspect of modern day catastrophe, be it mourning the rise of the far right, climate change, content moderation and addictive online personas. Gurriers are vexed, fitting as their name derives from the Irish term for 'ruffian'.

Hoff is joined in our chat by drummer Pierce Callaghan, who grew up on the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the proximity of which he calls “fucking wild”. He tells me about the smuggling of agricultural diesel, and its underground trade of washing the dye out of the fuel, leading to police conducting dip tests at various checkpoints in the area" “Growing up around the borders, it’s a land of its own,” Callaghan says, “there's a bit of a rebellious streak in everyone [because of the] proximity to The Troubles.” He continues, talking about the “ridiculous levels of PTSD” he sees in his family as a result.

Despite the claustrophobic tensions that are felt beneath and around them, Callaghan and Hoff are at least grateful for the respite that Dublin’s music scene offers. They both modestly gush about how incredible their peers are, not just those also in guitar bands but electronic artists too, as well as the beloved music venues that foster local and upcoming talent like The Workman's and Whelan’s.

It’s a relationship that’s only cemented itself over the past few years, as only a few weeks into their formation did the pandemic put a halt to their plans. The band met up when they could, but Callaghan recalls the time as “tedious…we used to make collaborative Spotify playlists and sit on Zoom calls and talk about music. It was something to cling on to, for sanity more than anything else.”

Gurriers released two songs before they played their first gig, "Approachable" and "Top Of The Bill", which were demos they recorded themselves (and can still be found on their bandcamp page). They’ve both ended up as complete versions which appear on Come and See.

Come and See was recorded in Leeds at The Nave Studios with Alex Greaves, “Alex was able to get the best out of us, and the sound that we really wanted for the album,” Hoff tells me. “He wasn't afraid to say ‘this is shit, you can do better’ in the most positive way and getting the ball rolling. He's not trying to bring us down, He's trying to make the record as good as we wanted it to be.”

He continues, “we stayed in a nice little gaff in Pudsey. We didn't drink that much at all, funnily enough. I think we only drank one night and that was when we finished [the album]. We were really, really good to ourselves.” Callaghan adds that instead of going for pints after sessions, the band did Come Dine With Me and all cooked for each other, alongside watching ‘mad films’ like Deerhunter and In The Name of The Father.

Come And See is a whiplash-inducing post punk record, its chaotic propensity proves endlessly mesmerising, particularly with the underlying grooves that are woven in amongst it all. Hoff tells me melody always comes first for him when he writes, and he feels the rest of the band agree, “the lads are very influenced by techno and dance music which has that groove that you don't really see that much in post punk music. You can move your butt [to it],” he smiles.

“I very nearly started a disco band at one stage, I haven't told many people that,” Callaghan laughs, with Hoff adding “I don't even know that!”

With an exterior that reflects Dublin’s turbulence and unrest, Gurriers execute a confrontational retaliation on Come and See, that embodies truth and wit in its sonics and lyrics.