The final Electric Underground gig of the year will be Planet Mu’s hotly tipped iTAL tEK. Planet Mu has rightly earned a reputation for being a cutting edge electronic label and is currently riding high with a roster of artists that touch on the much hyped Dub-Step sound. iTAL tEK is one such artist having taken many of the characteristics that have defined Dub-Step as a template on which to build his own distinct sound, adding electronic flourishes, glitching rhythm patterns, industrial noise and swathes of huge sub-bass. He plays the Liquid Lounge on Friday, December 28.

Frank & Walters
If the Frank and Walters were a clothing garment, they would be a Peoples Republic of Cork T-Shirt! If they were a landmark, they would be the fountain on Pana! You see, there are some things that are just inextricably linked with Cork and will always remain so forever more. The Frank and Walters are another such example of this...It seems you can take the boys out of Cork, but you can’t take Cork out of the boys, where the Franks are concerned! A case for ‘death by association’ would appear to have been the case for the F&W’s some years back. Many viewed them as being mere ‘survivors’ of the ‘Corkchester’ scene, when they emerged cross-channel to brief critical and commercial success along with the likes of the Sultans of Ping.

However, the Franks have mounted a hugely successful comeback in the past two years and have gone some way to reclaiming past glories. Remerging on the back of a double album, Souvenirs, the Franks hit the campaign trail with a vigour and with very favourable results. While it’s true that Corkonians hold the F&W’s very close to their hearts, it now seemed that audiences from further afield were just as equally willing to embrace their infectious brand of indie pop-rock, even after all these years. Their most recent album of new material, A Renewed Interest in Happiness, released in 2006, has spawned a number of pop-rock numbers that have received heavy airplay throughout the past year, putting the Franks right back to the forefront of Irish pop music. Irishman Jack Lyons, the man who inspired Pete Townsend’s ‘Jimmy’ in The Who’s seminal movie Quadrophenia, has also just finished writing the Franks biography, A Renewed Interest in Reading, is also said to be nearing publication. They play their annual Cork Christmas show at the Savoy on Thursday, December 27.