Rowan Bruce
While Cardiff locals may recognise Teethin frontman James Minas from his noisy and highly acclaimed hip-hop project MINAS, the 5 piece band bring together clashing elements from across the South Wales underground including Abergavenny dream pop artist Em Koko and Welsh producer Dontheprod into a mini supergroup of eclectic talent. Like a Welsh Death Grips, Teethin bring together punk attitude, noise rock chaos and hip-hop grooves into a brilliantly varied and wonderfully unhinged live experience.
Already an established presence, Minas oozes natural frontman charisma, allowing the other members to build up layers of intense noise. With tracks such as ‘My Generation’ from their recently released debut EP Greed Between The Lines jumping from R&B to shoegaze to noise rock, Teethin cement themselves as one of Cardiff’s premier genre-defying acts.
If you’ve been keeping your ear to the underground this summer then genre-bending, Dublin based punk-rapper Meryl Streek has been practically unavoidable, with appearances at Arctangent and 2000 Trees festivals, an upcoming set at Damnation Festival as well as support slots with everyone from Coheed And Cambria to The Meffs. With his life as a touring drummer left in the dust, Meryl Streek was reborn with his 2022 debut album 796 and his highly praised 2024 follow-up Songs For The Deceased, both now important records for Ireland’s flourishing alternative scene.
While other solo acts in the punk scene may struggle to capture the same energy as a full live band, Meryl Streek proves his star power with a ferocious vocal delivery over backing tracks which draw equally from punk, hip-hop and experimental soundscapes with a nod to traditional Irish folk. Hitting out early with ‘Gambling Death’, the set’s first furious political manifesto, Meryl Streek keeps a vein of righteous anger running throughout his show even while effortlessly leaping between genres.
Through all the distortion and fury, Meryl Streek’s live show reveals a tender soul, paying homage to those he’s lost, whether his uncle on ‘Paddy’ or his close friend and tour mate Liam Norton throughout the set. Closing out on his biggest hit so far ‘If This Is Life’, Meryl Streek makes a defiant and uplifting stand against the miseries of the modern world, ending the night on a high and driving home his position as one of the alternative underground’s most eclectic and vital voices.