10 Awesome Irish Acts To Honour St Patrick's Day & Who Are Not The Corrs, The Cranberries Or U2

It's that time of year again, when the Irish and people who just enjoy a cheeky pre-noon pint are out in force to celebrate a long-dead saint who once reputedly rid the northern isle of all the snakes.

Along with their formidable and stereotypical love of potatoes (no judgment), the Irish also have a preternatural talent for turning out some seriously great musicians from their far-flung land, and there's no more appropriate time to pay tribute to some of the excellence to have spilled out of the country over the past several years.

Yes, a few of these acts are no longer around, but if we're going to honour a guy who shuffled off the mortal coil a solid 1600-or-so years ago, surely we can still tip our hats to some bands who split up in living memory. That's my reasoning, and I'm sticking to it.

Adebisi Shank

Named after a character from HBO's seminal prison drama Oz, Adebisi Shank were a cornerstone of Ireland's unexpectedly bountiful instrumental/math-rock scene from 2006 until 2014.

They specialised in super-fun, upbeat, experimental jams that saw the band draw frequent comparison to genre godfathers Don Caballero (and ex-Don Cab guitarist Ian Williams' follow-up project, Battles) for their inventive, adventurous arrangements, layered soundscapes and frighteningly tight musicianship.

Over the course of their career, they released three full-lengths and one EP, all named entirely perfunctorily: This Is The EP Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank (2007), This Is The Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank (2008), This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank (2010) and, yes, This Is The Third Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank (2014).

Bats

Another excellent group of mathematically inclined musos (yeah, there'll be a few of those on this list, don't @ me), Bats have always stood out from the pack for their unabashed love of science and their willingness to tackle heavy intellectual topics in their lyrics.

From stem cells and the inevitable heat death of the universe to a song about Thomas Midgley Jr — one of the central figures involved in the development of the ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs — and even the worrying decline in the global bee population, Bats do a commendable job of fusing seriousness with sweet riffs, infectious grooves and angular rhythms that beg your hips to sway while your brain does backflips.

In the wake of their 2007 debut EP, they've released two studio albums to date: 2009's Red In Tooth & Claw and 2012's The Sleep Of Reason.

Enemies

Odd time signatures, noodly, complex guitars, understated vocals and constantly shifting soundscapes were the tentpoles of Enemies, who largely identified as a post-rock band but — like many of their one-time roster-mates at now-defunct label The Richter Collective — boasted refined math leanings that helped make them consistently engaging and always surprising over the course of their three studio full-lengths and sole EP.

They only released one album — their debut, 2010's We've Been Talking — on TRC before its closure in 2012, though celebrated indie Topshelf Records stepped in to help them put out a further two LPs before their dissolution in December last year: Embark, Embrace (2013) and Valuables (2016).

Sadly, it wasn't the most positive of splits; according to a statement from the band released in the lead-up to Valuables, they had endured "highs beyond belief" while on tour, but were "pushed into some truly dark places" as their relationships with each other "reached a breaking point". Thankfully, they left us with three truly great albums, and have hopefully found some modicum of peace since.

God Is An Astronaut

Moving into more straight-up post-rock territory, God Is An Astronaut have become one of Ireland's most successful export acts of the modern era, having been together for 15 years and pumping out seven studio albums along the way.

The most recent of those is 2015's Helios | Erebus — named after the Greek personifications of the Sun and darkness — and achieved highly receptive reviews, which should come as no surprise to anyone who's been exposed to their oeuvre since 2002 debut The End Of The Beginning.

Comparisons to Scottish genre lords Mogwai and even US veterans Explosions In The Sky have been abundant over the years — not unjustly — but at this stage, more than a decade into their storied career, God Is An Astronaut have more than asserted their own distinct presence on the global instrumental-rock scene, and it's all the richer for it.

Heathers

Call this an unfair generalisation if you must, but twin sisters tend to have a bit of a habit forming enduring and endearing alt/indie-pop duos, whether we're talking about the Origliasso sisters of The Veronicas, the Quin twins Tegan & Sara, or Ireland's own Ellie and Louise Macnamara, who since 2007 have been performing together as Heathers.

The pair released their first album, Here, Not There, back in 2008 and immediately earned traction by way of a fortuitous sync deal with the Irish Tourist Board for the use of their upbeat, uplifting track Remember When. They also collaborated with previous list entrants Enemies during the recording of Embark, Embrace (c. 2009-10), appearing on the track Nighthawk.

They laid somewhat low for a few years while putting together their sophomore album, Kingdom, though the wait was well worth it: the LP was nominated for the Irish Choice Music Prize and once again yielded another significant deal for the pair, with their track Forget Me Knots (It's Alright Not To Feel OK) picking up major airtime as a featured song on several local and international mental-health awareness campaigns.

Lisa Hannigan

If you're a fan of Noah Hawley's TV shows, odds are you're familiar with Irish indie-folk singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan, even if you're not quite aware of it.

Most recently — like, literally a couple of days ago — her version of David Bowie's Oh! You Pretty Things scored the closing credits of the sixth episode of FX's acclaimed X-Men drama Legion, while in 2015 she covered traditional classic Danny Boy for and episode in Fargo's second season.

She also appeared on the soundtrack for Gravity, the 2013 film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, among other films — including Closer (2004) and, uh, Shrek The Third (2007), both of which included songs she contributed with one-time band-mate and well-known solo artist Damien Rice.

Having got her start as one of Rice's band members, Hannigan struck out on her own with her 2008 debut Sea Sew and immediately established herself as an artist worth watching, picking up nominations for the Choice Music Prize, Meteor Music Awards and the Mercury Prize. She returned in 2011 with sophomore effort Passenger and most recently released third album At Swim in August last year.

Loah

An Irish-Sierra Leonean singer-songwriter currently making waves over at South By Southwest, Loah came to national attention in Ireland — alongside pulling off successful collabs with the likes of Hozier and Kila — with her first single The Bailey (2014).

A classically tinged, emotive piece that showcases the songstress's formidable vocal and dynamic range, the track was followed by the truly spectacular Cortege, a tune sung in the Sierra Leonean languages of Sherbro and Mende.

With a skill set that includes knowing how to play the violin and the piano — and a history that saw her accepted to the Discovery Gospel Choir at the same time as she was pursuing a career as a pharmacist — it's perhaps unsurprising that Loah gravitates towards such orchestral soundscapes, but what is remarkable is the refreshing energy with which she imbues them.

This is an artist at the beginning of what could turn into an exceptional career, and we're all fortunate to be able to bear witness to it.

The Redneck Manifesto

Another one-time staple of The Richter Collective, The Redneck Manifesto are, in theory, still active. However, the wait between albums has been slowly increasing over the course of their time together, which started in 1998 and was first marked by debut LP Thirtysixstrings in 2001.

They followed that album the next year with sophomore effort Cut Your Heart Off From Your Head to assist with the costs of touring, returning in 2004 with third album I Am Brazil. It was here that the band truly "found" their sound, expanding their four-piece into a quintet and widening their scope considerably.

They tightened up (even more), got a little jazzier, had a little more fun, and generally grew significantly as musicians for album #3, but it was their next — and, seven years on, still most recent — effort, 2010's Friendship that stands tall as their strongest, most fleshed-out work. With two members now overseas and other projects such as Jape and Dimman on the go, it may remain the last we hear from the band for some time.

September Girls

Five-piece garage/noise-pop outfit September Girls are still a relatively new concern — they've only been around since 2011 and have two albums to their name so far — but they're a revered force nonetheless, and absolutely worth getting across if you've not been exposed to their rough-edged, atmospheric tunes.

Emerging from the ashes of poppier predecessor outfit Talulah Does The Hula, September Girls built their renown with a series of single releases before putting out their debut album, Cursing The Sea, in January 2014.

Like Loah is doing this year, the band rode their growing reputation — via a follow-up EP, Veneer, which ironically saw the band pull back somewhat on their inherent polish — to a showcase spot at 2016's SXSW event in Austin as well as undertaking a short tour of the West Coast.

They released second album Age Of Indignation in April last year.

Sive

Stepping out of the ranks of short-lived alt-rock outfit The Isohels, Sive — aka Sadhbh O'Sullivan — has been blessing ears since 2012's debut effort We Are Moving. The singer and multi-instrumentalist turned heads with her commanding vocal presence and dexterous guitar-playing, straddling the realms of folk, rock, jazz and more with her assured first album.

That confidence and matured musicality is the result of a near-lifelong affinity with music, having gotten her start as a songwriter at the tender age of 15 years old. She studied music at Ballyfermot College, but says that it wasn't until "she took part in a band camp in Germany that she managed to pluck up the courage to front her own band", albeit "mainly because she didn't have a choice".

She's just about to release her second studio album, with the first single to be taken from the album, Hoverfly, already picking up renown ahead of the LP's landing, scoring nominations at the Nos Music Awards for Song Of The Year and Video Of The Year (ironically, its music video isn't on YouTube, so… here's a live version instead).

Honourable Mention: Virgin Prunes

Honestly? My editor made me promise to include this band before he would sign off on letting me write this list, so: viva Virgin Prunes!

In all seriousness, Virgin Prunes were an influential presence and cult-favourite act among the Irish counterculture of the late '70s and early '80s. With a line-up that featured well-known singer-songwriter Gavin Friday — who, along with felow member Guggi is one of Bono's good mates — and guitarist Dik Evans (the brother of U2 guitarist The Edge), the band became renowned for their provocative, colourful live performances and released four studio albums — the last of which was 1986's The Moon Looked Down & Laughed — before going their separate ways.