I feel like we’ve all forgotten about Republic of Loose. I was only like 13 or 14 when “Aaagh!” came out and I didn’t really catch any of the stories around the band, but by 2008 they were the coolest band to ever exist in Ireland. I don’t remember what happened to make it all stop and it doesn’t really matter in the context of this little idea. What I wanted to do is just make a note, out here on the internet, of how fucking weird it was that Republic of Loose ever happened. “Comeback Girl” is the possibly the greatest Irish song of all time. This was a soul band, a band with chest hair, a band fronted by a man who wanted to be called Johnny Pyro who sang about dirty sex and drugs. And for a few years everybody was cool with that. I think that that’s fuckin cool.

Also, if you like Republic of Loose and Spotify is trying to make you listen to Paddy Casey or the fucking Coronas, just listen to This Club. Closest vibe you’ll get that’s still Irish and they’re solid live.