Kilkenny grungers Kerbdog have just announced an exclusive show titled Night of the Living Freaks Halloween fancy dress ball at Castlebar’s new independent music venue The Clubhouse in Castlebar Celtic this October.
Kerbdog formed in 1991 and following two albums released on Mercury Records, the band split up in 1998. Since 2005 the band have reformed for a series of occasional one-off performances in Ireland and England.
Kerbdog was formed by Cormac Battle (vocals/guitar ), Colin Fennelly (bass guitar ), and Darragh Butler (drums ) while attending St Kieran's College secondary school. The lads went on to obtain their Leaving Certificates, but they devoted their energies to music rather than studies. Their early live shows primarily consisted of cover versions of songs by Sonic Youth, Loop, Spaceman 3, and Fudge Tunnel. They spent a year in London, but they failed to win much interest from the UK music press and returned to Kilkenny.
Billy Dalton joined the band in early 1992 as a second guitarist and his fondness for heavy metal acts Metallica and Slayer complimented Battle's fascination with the British and New York underground. The songs that resulted from the disparate influences of the band's primary members were visceral and cerebral. Realising that they had a potential for success with the band, Cormac, Colin, and Darragh dropped out of college and Billy left his job as a truck driver with his family's prosperous milling company.
In early 1993, Kerbdog signed with Mercury Records subsidiary Vertigo Records. That summer, Kerbdog recorded their self-titled debut album at Rockfield Studios in Wales, the album was produced by Jack Endino, who helped cement the Seattle grunge sound along with Sub Pop. Whilst recording, Kerbdog were also planning a major tour of the British clubs.
Their debut album in 1994 was released to acclaim, and two further singles were released, ‘Dry Riser’ and ‘Dummy Crusher’. The latter charted in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart and was shown in the chart listed on BBC Television's Top of the Pops. In early 1996, the Mercury Music Group was bought over by PolyGram Records, and Kerbdog shifted to Fontana Records, Vertigo's sister label at PolyGram. That spring, the band returned to the recording studio to work on their second album. Produced by GG Garth, On The Turn was recorded in Los Angeles. 2FM DJ Cormac Battle brings his merry-men Kerbdog to The Clubhouse on the Halloween bank holiday weekend October 27 and tickets will cost €20 and will be available from Ticketmaster and usual outlets soon.
