WE Come In Pieces – or WCIP for the time-poor – had all but disappeared from the Limrock neighbourhood for the last few years.
Limerick Post talks to Kieran Hayes about the new beginnings.
Once the band re-emerged recently with new guitarist Ciaran Cullinane playing a smattering of “new ones” in the set, it meant that it was only a matter of time before a new WCIP album would surface.
‘Stop The Rot’ is that new album from We Come in Pieces featuring as always Kieran Hayes (Vocals/ Drums) and Kieran Sims (Bass/ Vocals) but now with the addition of new kid Ciaran Culhane on Guitar & Moustache, according to the biog! Culhane has engineered recordings for the band since their debut album in 2010 when WCIP had been together for just three weeks.
How has the band sound changed with Ciaran Culhane on guitar?
KH: Ciaran had been with us as our recording/ sound engineer/moustache mogul since day one so he always had a huge influence on how we sounded but having his guitar playing/writing talents just opens everything up for the bass and drums. There’s a lot more to lock into when he’s doing sweeping solos and dancing on pedals. More importantly though, he keeps an incredible amount of tea on offer consistently, although he’s a little mean with the milk.
How long have you been working on ‘Stop The Rot?
KH: The writing of the album was a bit stop/ start for a few years as we had lost a couple of practice spaces and were left with no place to set up/store our gear. We eventually resorted to having silent practices in a sitting room in the city centre with an electric drum kit to get the ball rolling again after not playing together for over a year. We haven’t stopped writing since which is great.
Why call the album ‘Stop The Rot’?
KH: ‘Stop The Rot’, I think, refers to getting back on the donkey and starting over after the ass kind of fell out of the band. Plus, we initially got together in the middle of a recession that the band was shaped by with little to no prospects beyond leaving Limerick. It felt like a natural time to get it together as we get a little older and balder. The title tracks of our three albums have kind of been the mission statement for what’s going on with us at the time and what we want out of it.
Are you impressed with the new/ not so new Limrockers that have established themselves in the last few years?
KH: As well as coming out of a recession, the broader music scene in Limerick is really in the midst of a revival as well which I can see being related. There’s a generation of bands I think that were lost or just didn’t happen in the first place because of how hard hit Limerick was.
“The metal community in Limerick has really been flying that flag. No one is going out of their way to help you when you’re a small band in Limerick so we’ve always done best when we can band together.
“Thankfully there are a slew of really creative bands coming up that are doing things for themselves. Anna’s Anchor released what is without a doubt one of the best Limerick albums ever.
“DIY LK are running regular shows with the likes of Cruiser, PowPig, Cassevetes etc who are all different but really on the same page going forward.
“Trenchknife are a new metal band doing great work. Zealot Cult are putting out an album that they produced with our own Ciaran on a German label.
“Post-Punk Podge, whom we have the honour of playing with at our album launch, is doing some of the most important work in music in the country at the moment. And we get to be a part of that which is amazing after literally having done nothing for a couple of years.”
First Listen: We Come in Pieces – ‘Stop The Rot’
“Grab it by the scruff of the neck and don’t apologise,” shouts drummer/vocalist Kieran Hayes on the lead single ‘Gestabby’. This band unapologetically defy categorisation, equally potent in metal or punk or post rock. The album ‘Stop The Rot’ is a glorious rush of punk rage and a ferocious rollercoaster of metal riffage with solos played at nosebleed velocity. ‘You Had Me at Hell’ is the standout track on a record of standout tracks. It rages against the discredited old order as the band chants “You pray on your knees but you prey on the weak”.
The band have made a video for ‘You Had Me at Hell’ with plenty of cameos from the Limrock community.
