Road Relish 7” Singles
A few words on the 14 7” singles released by Road Relish between 1999 and 2004.
When I compiled my recent list “Top 20 Most Valuable 7” Singles” I left one single out. It’s a split 7” single featuring Songs: Ohia and Glen Hansard that was released in 2000 on Road Relish.
Road Relish 7” Singles. All photographs by Paul McDermott.
“They’ll be worth a lot of money to you one day.” dSide magazine (April 2000)
Road Records was the independent record shop on Fade Street in Dublin run by Dave Kennedy and Julie Collins between 1998 and 2009, an integral hub of Dublin’s music community in the early internet era. Alpha Relish was David Heagney (aka Hag) who promoted gigs by Oxes, Tara Jane O’Neil, Blonde Redhead, Trans AM, The Fucking Champs, The Lapse, Melt Banana and more. A gig by The Fucking Champs in The Lobby Bar in Cork remains one of the loudest shows I ever witnessed. I’ve often joked that part of my brain melted that night.
Together with Hugh McCabe (who did the photography and design for some of the sleeves) and a few other friends, they formed the Road Relish label and between 1999 and 2004 released 14 split 7” singles. 500 copies of each single were individually numbered and pressed on beautiful heavy vinyl in poly-lined inner sleeves. Two bands featured on each release and the singles offer a snapshot of what was happening in Dublin’s underground music scene at the time. Each 7” single was launched with a release gig and the singles were even distributed to indie record shops in the UK.
“The main reason that we started doing the singles,” explained Kennedy to Dan Hegarty in Local Ireland at the time, “was to give unsigned bands the opportunity to get something released. Bands try and bring things out, but some don’t have much money, so this is a way around that for them.”
Kennedy continued: “What happens is five of us sit down and take a listen to all the tapes that we’ve been given. Because they’re double A-side singles, we try and make it so that the songs on each have a similar kind of vibe, so obviously we’re not going to have a Dance track on one side and a Country & Western on the other.”
In total 28 artists were featured in the series. For a few of these artists having a track on a Road Relish single was a stepping stone to greater things. For others it marked the end of the road. Some went on to sign record deals and some released brilliant albums. One even won an Oscar. Some were never heard of again, but quite a few of them are still creating brilliant music. Six of the artists have featured on episodes of my podcast (To Here Knows When - Great Irish Albums Revisited).
Of the 28 artists, 25 hailed from Dublin, one was from Limerick and one was from Cork. The outlier was Jason Molina’s Songs: Ohia, the only non Irish artist in the series. The sixth release in the series was a split 7” featuring Songs: Ohia and Glen Hansard.
The turn of the millennium was an exciting time in Dublin, the country’s economy was on the upswing, memories of the crippling 80s recession were receding, employment was on the rise and emigration was in decline. This led to a flurry of activity in the Arts and in particular the independent Irish music scene. Small labels were springing up and bands were putting out their own music. Road Records was important to this scene, each week the section in the shop devoted to independent Irish music seemed to grow larger.
There was a growing confidence in the air, ten years earlier bands dreamed of a record deal and a ticket to London, now bands were sharing information about pressing plants in the Czech Republic. “If the mountain won’t go to Mohammed…” Look at the credits to almost any independently released Irish album during those years and you’ll see Dave and Julie from Road thanked.
The Road Relish series always reminded me of similar singles clubs by Rough Trade and Sub Pop. But, whereas those were mostly label samplers, Road Relish was a showcase of the exciting sounds coming out of Dublin. Indeed the Seattle label’s club was one of the inspirations for the Road Relish series.
“While the project’s guiding light, Road Records owner, Dave Kennedy, is loath to make am grandiose claims for what he describes as “basically a bunch of mates interested in music, having a laugh”,” wrote Ed Power in the The Irish Times (17 March, 2000).
“He confesses to modelling Road Relish on the seminal singles “club” founded by early 1990s grunge innovators, Sub Pop, nursemaid to then-unheard-of acts such as Nirvana and Mudhoney. The plan is to release a limited edition, seven-inch single every two months.”
While the plan of a new split single every two months didn’t quite materialise, 14 singles were eventually released in the series. I purchased all of them as they were released and it’s genuinely hard to convey how exciting it was to walk in to Road and buy each one and chat about who might be featured on the next 7”.
Some of these 7”s were played to death, others I played once or twice, but when I look at the singles now I just think how incredibly altruistic it was that a little record shop, an indie promoter and a few friends came together to release these records. This was a time pre-smartphones and streaming when physical media was still king, you literally had to go home and play the single on a record player.
So below I’ve listed all 14 singles with information about each release. Track them down, buy them secondhand, or search on YouTube for the tunes.
Were the 14 singles ever digitised? I’ve no idea, if anyone has mp3s or rips then please get in touch!
Road Relish 001
The Idiots - ‘Sample’
The Redneck Manifesto - ‘He Threw Down His Rifle and Ran’
(Oct ‘99)
“A debut double A-side seven-inch - in which baroque cinematic instrumentalists The Idiots rub plectrums with the more traditional rock stylings of The Redneck Manifesto” is how Ed Power described the first Road Relish single in the pages of The Irish Times.
Meanwhile in the Dublin Event Guide, Leagues wrote: “Kicking off the new Road Relish Singles Club is this split seven inch between The Idiots, Dublin’s perennial masters of murky breathless drones, and The Redneck Manifesto who have been wooing the indie-peops with their glimmering post-Slint mellow blends.”
The Idiots (1995, DiRT Records).
The Idiots had released an incredible self-titled album in 1995 on DiRT Records. They hadn’t been heard from in a while. The Redneck Manifesto were the new kids on the (noisy guitar) block. They released Thirtysixstrings, their debut album in 2001.
Thirtysixstrings postcard.
The first time I flipped this single over it felt like a physical passing of the baton - the old guard to the young bucks. It was a great start to the series. The last time I played these songs they sounded a lot quieter than I remembered them.
Road Relish 002
Jubilee Allstars - ‘Lamplight’
Dot Creek - ‘Cast’
(Dec ‘99)
“A soft-tinged affair featuring languid, quasi- country strummerers Jubilee Allstars.” Ed Power in The Irish Times (17 March, 2000).
“A touch of Pavement crossed with the Frank & Walters is a rough assessment of Jubilee Allstars. That’s to say jaunty pop with a quirky edge,” wrote Record Collector.
Their review continued, “On the flip, Dot Creek’s acoustic ballad features a winsome slide and is all sweetly melancholic.”
Single No. 2 features Jubilee Allstars and Dot Creek. Two lovely tracks that totally stand up, especially the Dot Creek song. Jubilee Allstars’s ‘Lamplight’ ended up on their masterpiece, Lights of the City, the following year. My feature about the album for the Irish Examiner’s “Ireland in 50 Albums” series can be read here.
In 2001 Dot Creek released the great Ill Seen, Ill Said - a forgotten classic. Both bands were at the forefront of an alternative country scene in Dublin at the time which included El Diablo.
Jubilee Allstars, brothers Niall, Fergus and Barry McCormack along with Lee Casey, joined me on EP28 of To Here Knows When to discuss the band’s second album (Episode 28 - Lights of the City by Jubilee Allstars).
Road Relish 003
Decal - ‘Ladies Love My 808’
Burning Love Jump-Suit - ‘N.C. Travel’
(Mar ‘00)
“A strictly limited edition seven inch release from Dublin’s electro mavericks, Decal. Over a deep techno riff and a jerky rhythm, band member Dennis McNulty croons suggestively about the potency of his studio tool. Can’t exactly make out what he’s singing, but it’s refreshing to hear an act take the piss out of the more “serious” music they normally release.” DJ Magazine
We had guitar noise and country twang and now we were gifted an electronic double-header by Dublin pioneers Decal and Burning Love Jumpsuit (“an underground Irish band of movie obsessive shut ins who had access to a computer. They were active between 1991-2002” Bandcamp). The Burning Love track is brilliant and one of my favourites from the series.
Road Relish 004
David Kitt- ‘Irma Vep’
Mr. Deasey Mooneye - ‘The Butterfly’
(Jun ‘00)
The fourth single in the series features David Kitt and Mr. Deasey Mooneye (aka David Cleary). Both Kitt and Cleary had appeared on Come On Up to the House (alongside The Frames, Jubilee Allstars and Barry McCormack), a 5-track EP released by Independent Records in late 1999.
“The A side is a lovely instrumental by Mr Kitt, building on the promise shown by the gorgeous ‘Song From Hope St’ from Come On Up To The House, and a string of rapturously received live shows. ‘Irma Vep’ is dreamy and floaty, starting with the most minimalist of organ lines, adding layer upon layer of rippling acoustic guitar and the shy patterning of drums. It shows a remarkable musical adventurism and wilful eclecticism for such a young and relatively inexperienced young man whose star can only really get brighter. Mr. Mooneye chips in with a strange piece of leftfield electronica, which is more “interesting” than pleasurable.” Dublin Event Guide
In 2007 ‘Irma Vep’ was released on Kitt’s Misfits Vol. 1, a compilation of “rare and unreleased tracks which didn’t make official album releases”. Kitt described ‘Irma Vep’ as an: “Anagram of Vampire. This was my first ever release on the Road Relish singles club series and limited to 500 seven inches. It started life as a piece to accompany the end of sequence of the film “Irma Vep” by Oliver Assayas but that didn’t really stand up without the footage so I turned it into this. It was recorded in the winter of 1999 and hence began my official career as a recording artist and full time vampire.”
‘Irma Vep’ and Misfits Vol. 1 are available on Bandcamp. Kitt joined me for EP58 of To Here Knows When (Episode 58 - The Big Romance by David Kitt).
I love that Laser Video gets a namecheck in the credits to Kitt’s song above. In the late 99s and early 00s Laser Video on George’s St, and at their second outlet in Ranelagh, had the greatest selection of films to rent in town. Anyone who cared about film had a Laser account.
This single was released with a gig in Whelan’s on 13 June 2000 by Kitt and Cleary. Richie Egan from The Redneck Manifesto was also on the bill. Kitt had newly signed to Warners and a buzz was definitely building around him. A week later I saw Cleary again, this time opening the Labradford Festival of Drifting in the Temple Bar Music Centre (now The Button Factory). A monumental, unforgettable gig.
Road Relish 005
The Kabinboy- ‘Untitled’
Large Mound - ‘Old People’ & ‘I Feel Cold’
(Sep ‘00)
The next release paired The Kabinboy with Large Mound. The last time I played these tracks I wrote, “Dublin goes post-rock” and described them as simply “noisy”. I then wondered was I being reductive? I probably was.
The Kabinboy were an instrumental (post) rock band. They released a few 7” singles including a great split with The Redneck Manifesto in 2001 on Grayslate Records.
Large Mound released three full-length albums. The band’s debut Raised on Rock appeared in 2001 on Julius Geezer Records. Go Forth and Amplify, its follow-up, came out in 2004 on Scientific Laboratories. My Whole Life Is Have To followed in 2007, also on Scientific Laboratories.
Julius Geezer, Scientific Laboratories and Grayslate put out a slew of great releases at the turn of the century by Joan of Arse, The Dudley Corporation and The Redneck Manifesto.
Road Relish 006
Songs: Ohia - ‘Fade Street’
Glen Hansard - ‘A Caution to the Birds’
(Dec ‘00)
Here’s where the series got really exciting. The cover of this single is just beautiful, one of the nicest in the series.
Jason Molina, the American singer-songwriter, contributed the gorgeous ‘Fade Street’. Road Records was on Fade Street. Was the song named for THAT street or was it purely a coincidence? I’ve no idea. It never dawned on me to ask someone.
Hansard’s ‘A Caution to the Birds’ was recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago. Molina joined Hansard on the recording along with some of his usual musical collaborators: Jeff Panall (of Silkworm), and Dan and Rob Sullivan. Rob Bochnik engineered the recording and would subsequently join The Frames. ‘A Caution to the Birds’ would be re-recorded for The Frames’ album Burn the Map in 2005.
This single was launched with a gig in The Shelter (now Vicar Street’s overflow bar), the gig was a Songs: Ohia tribute night with Glen Hansard headlining.
Molina sadly passed away in 2013. The music he made as Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. continues to be discovered by new audiences.
The single’s Discogs’ Median valuation is €86, though a copy sold in April 2026 for €100. A few years earlier a copy went for €125. It’s the single that could have featured in my “Top 20 Most Valuable 7” Singles” list. If I had included it on my list it would have appeared at No. 4, sandwiched between two Oasis singles.
In 2014, for Record Store Day, Molina’s ‘Fade Street’ was compiled on Journey On: The Collected Singles of Jason Molina’s Songs: Ohia 1995-2002, a boxset of 9 7” singles of 18 rare and long out-of-print recordings that is now also extremely rare.
In 2015 Hansard recorded five more Molina songs: the 12” EP It Was Triumph We Once Proposed...Songs of Jason Molina was released by Overcoat Recordings. In a press release Hansard stated: “Jason Molina was a hero and a friend, I wrote him my first fan letter, I always loved his music and singing these songs is the only way to make sense of losing him.”
Road Relish 007
Americhord - ‘Snowstorm’
Memory Cells - ‘The Slow Flash’
(May ‘01)
Americhord was the electronic project of Dublin DJ Maura O’Boyle. Following this split single she released a number of 12”s on D1 Recordings.
Memory Cells were, Anthony Carroll (of Wormhole/The Wormholes), Adrienne Flynn and Stephen Rennicks. They formed in early 1999 and lasted for just over two years. They released a couple of albums and ‘The Slow Flash’, their tune from this split, can be found on their 2001 album, We Have Found The New Jerusalem, which was produced by Maura O’Boyle. It’s available on Bandcamp.
Anthony and Stephen joined me - along with Graham Blackmore (The Wormholes), Eamonn Crudden (Dead Elvis), and Marc Carolan (producer) - on EP09 of To Here Knows When (Episode 09 - Chicks Dig Scars by Wormhole).
Anthony sadly passed away in October 2024. Stephen curates the wonderful Abstract Analogue community page on Facebook.
Road Relish 008
Dæmien Frost - ‘Slut Style’
The Jimmy Cake - ‘The Opposite of Addiction’
(May ‘01)
“Dublin’s Jimmy Cake have been making quite a name for themselves with their awesome gigs, in which a nine piece band construct a quite unearthly sound which one fan has described as “Godspeed on Ecstasy”. This is rather a simplification of their unique sound, as ‘The Opposite of Addiction’ proves - wheezing, wistful accordion laying down layers of unbearable melancholia before a rumbling bass line kicks in, followed by the rich swell of saxophone. Building and building with lacerating guitar, trumpet, and tension filled stop start rhythms, it’s a gloriously intense statement of intent. Roll on the mini-album. The flip, meanwhile is an endearingly choppy slice of ragged guitar work, which builds to a satisfyingly noisy frenzy.” Dublin Event Guide
The Jimmy Cake’s debut album Brains came out a few months after this release on the band’s own Pilatus label. They subsequently released four more albums.
Dæmien Front released another split single in 2001 with the Japanese noise band Melt Banana. The band’s sound owed as much to jazz and metal as it did to post-rock. They also released two albums: 2001’s Corpus Daemo (Alpha Relish)and 2008’s Spirito Di Daemo (Red F Records). Hag from Alpha Relish/Road Relish played drums in the band.
Three members of The Jimmy Cake, Dara Higgins, and brothers Diarmuid MacDiarmada and John Dermody, joined me to discuss the band’s second album on EP36 of To Here Knows When (Episode 36 - Dublin Gone, Everybody Dead by The Jimmy Cake)
Road Relish 009
The Connectfour Orchestra - ‘Analogarythms’
Jimmy Behan - ‘Side Partin’’
(Sep ‘01)
The ninth release was a split between The Connectfour Orchestra and Jimmy Behan. Two beautiful songs - the jazzy soundscapes of the C4O and the mellow electronica of Jimmy Behan - and one of the nicest sleeves of the series. Side A, the C4O side, plays at 33rpm and always reminded me of Tortoise.
The C4O also released their own 7” around this time and their one and only album, Chisel To The Hip, was released the following year. It remains one of my favourite Irish albums of the period. The band’s Glen Keating subsequently played with Bell X1, HousePlants, David Kitt, Jape, The Redneck Manifesto and many others. He sadly passed away in March 2026.
Jimmy Behan is an Irish composer working with acoustic and electronic sounds who often incorporates field recordings in his compositions. Following this split single his debut album, Days Are What We Live In, was released on Elusive Recordings in 2004. Here We Are Now, his most recent album, came out in 2022.
‘Deeper Than Heaven’, one of the standout tracks from Behan’s debut features Nina Hynes. Nina appears on Road Relish No. 10.
The Connectfour Orchestra - Chisel To The Hip (2002, Greyslate Records).
Road Relish 010
Nina Hynes - ‘Zhivago Blue’
Adrian Crowley - ‘Fickle Light’
(May ‘02)
The tenth release in the series features Nina Hynes and Adrian Crowley. It’s one of my favourite designs of the series. Nina’s ‘Zhivago Blue’ is stripped back and bare, it’s a beautiful track. It appeared on Staros, her second album that came out later in 2002.
Crowley’s ‘Fickle Light’ was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini in his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, where Crowley made his second album, When You Are Here You Are Family. I assume it was an out-take from that album’s recording sessions.
Nina joined me to discuss her second album on EP13 of To Here Knows When (Episode 13 - Staros by Nina Hynes).
Road Relish 011
Joan of Arse - ‘Starting Fights at Taxi Ranks’
Estel - ‘Regardez Moi’
(Nov ‘02)
Like Adrian Crowley, Joan of Arse’s contribution was also recorded by Steve Albini in his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago.
So, three of the 28 tracks were recorded in Albini’s studio (Glen Hansard, Adrian Crowley and Joan of Arse) with Albini at the controls for two of them (Crowley and Joan of Arse). I’m sure there’s a music quiz question in there somewhere.
This was the last release from Joan of Arse and I assume the track was an out-take from the 2001 recording of their second album Distant Hearts, A Little Closer (Scientific Laboratories/Julius Geezer Records) with Albini. Zak Sally, at the time Low’s bass player, did the beautiful artwork for Distant Hearts…, one of the great, but unfortunately forgotten, albums of the period.
Estel’s track ‘Regarez Moi’ is simply brilliant, easily one of the best of the series. Estel would release five albums on their own Little Plastic Tapes label.
Road Relish 012
The Chalets - ‘Two Chord Song’
Neosupervital - ‘Sherwood’
(Feb ‘03)
The first (and only) in the series on coloured vinyl. A beautiful design from The Chalets’ Chris Judge.
Prior to this single the only music The Chalets had released was their track ‘Theme From Chalets’ on Please Don’t Ask Us What We Think Of Your Band, a Leagues compiled CD which came with issue 5 of his magazine Homage (a precursor to Foggy Notions).
X-Girl plus guests The Chalets, Boxes and A Lazarus Soul (12 July, 2002).
The Chalets were a great indie pop band, the twin vocals of Caoimhe Derwin and Paula Cullen reminded me of early B-52s. They put on a show and were a breath of fresh air in a scene that was predominately made up of noisy guitars bands, they weren’t afraid to have a bit of fun, something a few members (Chris Judge and Enda Loughman) took even further with Warlords of Pez.
There was a buzz about The Chalets, their gigs were exciting and this single was hotly anticipated, well it was by me at least.
The version of ‘Two Chord Song’ on this single was culled from their Dave Fanning RTÉ 2FM session. It was re-recorded for inclusion on their 2005 debut album, Check In.
Tim O’Donovan went by the name Neosupervital and served up 80s synth sounds, he also featured on the Homage CD compilation. ‘Sherwood’ appeared on his great 2006 self-titled album.
Post-Chalets, Judge became a full time (and award-winning) illustrator, Loughman makes films with D.A.D.D.Y., while Derwin and Cullen formed the brilliant September Girls and released two albums - Cursing the Sea (2014) and Age of Indignation (2017) - on one of my favourite record labels of the 00s, Fortuna Pop!
Road Relish 013
The Tycho Brahe - ‘Before And After Seance’
Dinah Brand - ‘Perfect and Whole’
(Aug ‘04)
When this 7” came out both The Tycho Brahe and Dinah Brand had already released albums. I was a big fan of both bands.
Dinah Brand was formed by Dylan Phillips, formerly of Pet Lamb, and their debut album Pale Monkey Blues came out in 2003, a collection of melodic country rock tunes. I Can Walk Through, the band’s second album was released in 2009 and Thank You Driver, their third, followed in 2019.
The Tycho Brahe were formed by Carol Keogh and Donal O'Mahony (formerly of the Plague Monkeys) and Diarmuid MacDiarmada of The Jimmy Cake. This Is (2002), the band’s debut album, is one of the great Irish albums of the period and it was followed up in 2003 with Love Life, Ireland’s first double studio album. By the time this 7” was released they had changed their name to Tychonaut.
This is one of my favourite singles in the series, two gorgeous songs and an absolutely beautiful sleeve, designed by Donal O’Mahony with photography by Carol Keogh.
Carol Keogh of The Tycho Brahe joined me on EP35 of To Here Knows When to discuss the band’s debut album (Episode 35 - This Is by The Tycho Brahe).
John Hegarty, who played keyboards with Dinah Brand joined me on EP48 of To Here Knows When to discuss his debut album (Episode 48 - Twilight by John Hegarty).
Road Relish 014
Giveamanakick - ‘Let God Touch Your Children’
Waiting Room - ‘Denis’
(Nov ‘04)
The final single in the series looked beyond the pale.
Giveamanakick were a two-piece from Limerick: Stephen Ryan on vocals and guitar and Keith Lawler on drums. They released three albums and should have been huge.
Waiting Room hailed from Cork and released a great album in 2004, Catering For Headphones. Both GAMAK and Waiting Room’s albums were released on the Limerick label Out On A Limb Records.
Waiting Room’s ‘Denis’ is more melodic than I remembered, a great tune. GAMAK’s ‘Let God Touch Your Children’ is fierce and still sounds fabulous.
This single had launch gigs in Limerick, Galway, Cork and Dublin. The Dublin gig was an early show because Shellac were in town for a gig at Vicar Street.
If you’d have told me back in 2004 that many of these artists would still be producing exciting music in 2026 - I would have laughed. But the class of Road Relish are still going strong. Very strong.
A few months ago David Kitt sold out two nights at the National Concert Hall, Jape (aka The Redneck Manifesto’s Richie Egan) did something similar last September, and as I write it has just been announced that The Jimmy Cake will play the NCH in November 2026.
The Redneck Manifesto - now stylised as TRM - released Grushy, their eighth album, last September and toured the country. The Jimmy Cake’s Diarmuid MacDiarmada is a member of Rún, who released their self-titled debut album on Rocket Recordings in 2025. The WICC (aka Carol Keogh) released Lycanthropy (The Wolf Chronicles Part II) in 2025. Brian Mooney, of The Idiots, is releasing incredible music as The Next New Low. John Hegarty’s latest album Daydreaming was one of my favourite Irish albums of 2024. Adrian Crowley’s Measure of Joy, his tenth album, was one of my favourite Irish albums of 2025. Hugh McCabe continues to make music as a member of M Stevens & The Ghasts. Nina Hynes continues to release exhilarating experimental music. Many others are still involved in music too.
That’s it, 14 singles released between 1999 and 2004 by a little record shop in town.
