Gurriers

More now than ever, there has seemingly been a massive boom in both the quality and quantity of music from a small island to the west of England - from CMAT to Fontaines D.C to The Murder Capital, this has been a stellar year for Irish music. Riding off this wave has been Dublin-based five-piece Gurriers, revered by many for their high-octane live performances and their boisterous energy. Since the release of their critically celebrated debut album last year, “Come and See”, they’ve had the privilege to play some pretty impressive places in 2025, from their Sunday afternoon Woodsies slot at Glastonbury to a huge opening slot for indie highfliers Turnstile scheduled in their hometown of Dublin next week. Few may write them off as just another indie-filler band, just this time with a different accent, but all you need to do is spend an hour of your evening in the same room as them to wash away any doubts about how absolutely excellent they are.

Walking onto Frankie Valli’s irresistible “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, they were certainly a band you simply couldn’t take your eyes off of the entire night, whether it was the flashing lights turning the 350 capacity room into a post-punk nightclub, or frontman Dan Hoff’s spirited nature. Kicking off a show with your newest song, in tonight’s case “Erasure”, can sometimes be a risk in live music. But the band needn’t worry about it falling on deaf ears, because Dan’s screaming of the chorus was met with the screams of the audience. Gurriers are certainly a band with a strong political ethos, reflected by Dan shouting “Free Palestine!” before the stage lights illuminated in the colours of the Ireland flag for “Dipping Out”, a powerful song about the notion of people ‘dipping out’ and leaving behind their homes in the search of financial gain. Even though the debut album has only been out for a year, many of the messages communicated on it have perhaps grown even more relevant, providing a voice for the youth in not just Ireland but across the world. This youthful energy evidently translated to those who were in attendance - while there were a large number of tweens with their BBC Radio 6-loving dads, there was a surprising amount of younger kids on a family night out. This provides good bearings for the band, showing their message and music is already reaching the next generation.

Without a doubt, Gurriers are currently amongst the best in their genre at capturing the desire for raucous post-punk music while also balancing the more melodic moments brilliantly. Everytime Dan is seen jumping up and down on instrumental breaks, fans would follow in unison as if it was an orchestrated military parade. Guitarist Ben O’Neill and bassist Charlie McCarthy match this effectively, whether they were seen dueling out with one another, prancing around the stage or even jumping in the several moshpits on show. This was a crowd that liked to jump and smash into one another, but always with a mutual love between them and an acknowledgement of keeping people safe. Gurriers already face several parallels with the earlier work of Fontaines D.C, who have since strayed away from that style and towards a more art rock feel. It’s clear to see that many fans who have been yearning for that kind of music have gravitated towards Gurriers, but the band also show their beautiful side on tracks like “Top of the Bill”. Dan’s vocal performance on the outro is excellent, and you feel a real wish that this is explored more on any of the band’s future work.

For now though, there is no denying that the noise rock of Gurriers is more than sufficient. “Approachable” is perhaps their best track both on their debut album and in a live setting - this is made all the more effective by drummer Pierce Callaghan and guitarist Mark MacCormack, who leave everything out on that stage, continuously giving 110%. The last two songs of the set, “Des Goblin” and “Nausea” are equally ferocious in their delivery and execution, with the audience imitating the guitar slides at the beginning of the latter track. Dan mentioned towards the end that Oxford was the second ever city the band had played in the UK, emphasising how great of a night it must’ve been for the quintet. And, if they continue to play shows as good as that and make music as well-calculated as their debut album (and given how amazing some of the unreleased tracks they played tonight were), they’ll continue to be back here many times and in bigger rooms. If rapid rises to fame like those of Fontaines D.C. and Wunderhorse can happen in an instant, who’s to say it can’t happen to Gurriers?