Release Date June 19th, 2026
Format Digital
Genre Modern Rock
Origin Ireland
Mudd·Shovel is a three member band from Cavan, Ireland, featuring Shawn Hicks on guitar and vocals, Garreth Tackney on bass and production, and David Mulligan on drums. Tackney previously played with Shouting At Planes, while Hicks brings a riff centred approach and Mulligan adds touches of jazz technique to a far heavier setting. Formed through a shared interest in the rougher end of rock music, the trio draws from grunge, post punk, industrial rock, and modern alternative rock.
Their music revolves around distorted guitar, prominent bass, restless drumming, and vocals used as part of the overall attack. “Little White Hair” is their debut album, issued through Epictronic, and places them firmly within the Irish underground scene. The band arrives with a defined character, built less on
ornament and more on tension, volume, and emotional unease. Across nine songs, “Little White Hair” maintains an urgent pace through riff led arrangements, grinding guitar tones, and rhythms that sway between firm grooves and near collapse.
The mix is deliberately raw, preserving amp noise, rough edges, and the physical impact of the rhythm section, though the limited dynamic range occasionally causes separate songs to blur together. Hicks shifts between confrontation and release, using strain and melody without turning the vocals into empty aggression. Lyrically, the album deals with frustration, self examination, emotional unrest, and the struggle to retain control when personal circumstances begin to fracture. Restrained melodic turns provide necessary contrast, especially when the heavier patterns threaten to become too uniform.
The production has enough definition for the bass and drums to remain distinct, while the guitar retains an industrial scrape that refuses studio gloss. A few arrangements circle the same riff for longer than needed, and the vocal attack can flatten subtler lyrical moments, though the album’s compact construction prevents those habits from taking over. “Little White Hair” is a credible debut with a raw pulse, strong songwriting instincts, and enough melodic detail beneath the distortion to give Mudd·Shovel a character beyond simple aggression.
|7.0
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