The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock

Brandon’s, Ennis Co Clare Tomorrow 8pm €13; Róisín Dubh, Galway Thurs 9pm €12 091-586540

Cult career be damned! In the past few years Dublin’s Spook of the Thirteenth Lock have released two albums (2008’s self-titled debut and this year’s The Brutal Here and Now). They might not have sold far and wide but they’ve produced the kind of ripple effects other bands would no doubt envy. And still the Spooks soldier on, continuing with their determined efforts of fusing folk and traditional idioms with post/prog/psych rock.

In lesser hands, of course, such a blend could be the biggest mess on the floor since that early Sunday morning you’d prefer not to talk about. But the Spooks have little problem with weaving such styles into a seamless whole.

My Bloody Valentine? Virgin Prunes? Planxty? We agree it sounds odd, if not downright bizarre, but in real life it’s grist to the mill for the bowsies down at the 13th Lock.

Can't see that? Catch this:Professor Green Sat, Dublin