Cult Cork rockers return after 36 year hiatus

Cork in the '80s was awash with the voices of a disaffected generation who were unwilling to sit idly by as they watched the city they loved crumble around them. Amongst these voices were Cypress, Mine!

The four-piece rock band made a splash with their jangly guitar pop, introspective lyrics, and standout live performances which earned them a cult following on leeside and beyond, helped by the release of their acclaimed LP ‘Exit Trashtown’, which remains a collectors’ item to this day.

Now, decades later, Cypress, Mine! Have just released a brand new single, ‘Spellbinding’, off their forthcoming new album, and people are very excited. On top of that, the band are planning to return to the live stage again with a series of gigs planned in the new year.

The band was formed in 1984 by Ian Olney (guitar), Ciarán Ó Tuama (vocals), Mark Healy (drums), and Denis O’Mullane (bass). The current iteration of Cypress, Mine! features Mark Healy on bass while Morty McCarthy of The Sultans of Ping takes over drumming duties.

Influenced in their early days by Orange Juice, The Smiths, REM, and Hüsker Dü, Cypress, Mine! performed alongside U2, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Aztec Camera before disbanding in 1989. Their 1987 debut ‘Exit Trashtown’ received critical acclaim, producing national radio favourites ‘Justine’ and ‘Sugar Beet God’. After the breakup, Ian Olney became part of Dublin rock band Power of Dreams.

A subsequent successful re-issue in 2017 of ‘Exit Trashtown’ on Spanish label Pretty Olivia Records re-ignited an interest in Cypress, Mine!. Since then, the band has been quietly reconnecting, writing and recording new music. Their sound remains unmistakably theirs, complete with shimmering guitars, passionate vocals, and songs that still feel like your favourite mixtape from 1986.Cypress, Mine! now bring with them the experience of getting older and wiser and this is reflected in both the music and lyrical direction the band has chosen with their new material.

More news on Cypress, Mine!’s upcoming new album, whose title is yet to be announced, will emerge in the coming months. In the meantime, they are playing Mike The Pies in Listowel, Co. Kerry, on 30 January, followed by a show in Levis, Ballydehob, West Cork on 31 January. On 14 February they play the Crane Lane in Cork city, and then it’s up to Dublin for a show in Bello Bar on 21 March.