ALBUM OF THE WEEK - THE NORTHERN DRONES 'HIGH SKY' RTE 2FM and 2XM (7 MAY 12)" They're back with their third album 'High Sky'... Not bad considering that The Northern Drones only released their debut album less than two years ago. Fear not, they haven't lost that scerated guitar sound, they still sound as loose as ever, or as they were once described on this show;"Psychedelic Garage Rock recorded under the stairs!"THE ALTERNATIVE WITH DAN HEGARTYMON-THUR 11.OO-13.00 ON 2XM and 23.00-01.00 ON 2FMIRELANDIn the Dublin music scene, its not easy to sneak in under the radar. Bands are named the ‘next big thing’ before they’ve even played live where others are ‘destined for a number one’ (or whatever the equivalent is in these download days) before they’ve even seen a studio. The Northern Drones have, somehow avoided both and have toured and recorded for a while without the hype machine, or indeed The Hype Machine, catching on. And, while its nice to come across some top quality music without the hype, you can’t help but feel that they deserve it so much more than so many others. SEAN NOONE (Golden Plec)"Dublin-based, The Northern Drones specialise in ramshackle, headspinning psych-ramalama with a grand sense of fecklessness to the sound. Their self-titled debut album was apparently recorded in a cubbyhole under a set of stairs and sounds all the better for it". JIM CARROLL (Irish Times)In as far as a band doing exactly what they say on the tin, you can’t do much better than The Northern Drones. They are Northern – not northern Northern, Dublin Northern – and they drone. Their music is as direct as their moniker, but by no means as simplistic. The Northern Drones wander sonically from snarl to purr, tripping and trembling into all areas in between.....As each wave of thundering bravado shakes the room, it’s hard to tell when the Dublin threesome are going to charge or withdraw, and therein lies their charm. There is something involving about the band, reminiscent of the kind of pretty grunge typified by an early Jesus and Mary Chain. Caroline O Donoghue (Drop - D)There's more than enough perfect music around," say The Northern Drones.... Mainly recorded live in the studio (or the garage), The Northern Drones sound like the Flamin' Groovies having a hallucenogenic-enhanced jam, circa 1967 - although I'm not sure if the sixties garage thing they've got going here is intentional, or if it's just the result of the non-production. For all I know, the band might actually want to sound like U2...Still, however they got there, the band's fuzztone clang and clatter has a stripped-down charm. Uncle Nemesis http://www.nemesis.to/records.htmHimself has a friend from back home who plays in a Dublin band. We were informed several weeks ago that he would be playing in Cork city, at Crane Lane Theatre. Since he is a childhood friend and we haven’t been out in ages, it was duly marked on the mental calendar. I wasn’t sure about the “psychedelic garage rock” genre, but some things trump skepticism.So, the Northern Drones (the band Himself’s friend is in) sounded kinda like…. the Doors. Ok, so maybe not. But they had that trancy, deep sound you imagine playing as background music in old footage of people in the 60′s tripping on acid. What? You haven’t seen that footage? The music sort of drifted in and out, with a constant push ahead, even though I couldn’t really tell where it was going. That was the theme of the music, for me. The push…driving forward to somewhere…. His friend plays bass. His friend spent the entire set with his back turned to the audience. Afterwards, I didn’t ask why. I didn’t want to. I preferred imagining he kept his back to the hungry eyes of modernity while seeking his inner illusion of solitude and oneness with the psychedelic sound waves of bliss. Groovy man…..(Traci) - http://irelandandback.wordpress.com/see here for more here - http://www.thenortherndrones.com/