M(h)aol then, what a gloriously awkward start to a song, how do you respond to that in this modern age? What about that horse they rode in on, have you no manners? They’ll far more than do for a cold grey Wednesday in late October, today’s Thing of The Day, M(h)aol are currently based between Dublin, London, and Bristol, they are formed of Róisín Nic Ghearailt, Constance Keane aka Fears, Jamie Hyland (Girl Band’s ‘Holding Hands With Jamie’), Zoe Greenway, and Sean Nolan.  Their debut EP Gender Studies  is out this Friday on streaming platforms, whilst the physical release proper happens on 14th January 2022. The Dinked Edition version of the vinyl which was limited to 300 copies sold out in just 36 hours, with the demand for the standard version being more than they were planning to make. It was recorded in just 3 days due to their different locations, and covers topics such as violence against women, and the misogynistic music scene in Ireland and the UK. Pre-order here.

“Earlier this year they released the single ‘Asking For It’ with an aim to dismantle the external and internal narratives that perpetuate the behaviours behind gender-based violence and victim-blaming. It was shared earlier than planned in light of the Sarah Everard murder, with all profits donated to Women’s Aid Ireland, a charity who aim to end domestic violence against women and children”.

STOP PRESS: And I must confess I have an awfully bad habit of listening to videos whe npeople send us links rather than watching them properly, this just in as a response to our posting this morning, it is a very valid point, one we agree with – “Well yes good morning, and yes today’s organ thing is rather good…. although why did they have to undress to their underwear in that first video? I liked it up until that point… why did they feel the need to do that? I don’t get it, It’s annoying. You just wouldn’t have men doing that, or you might but it would feel a bit odd, when you see women doing it, it just feels like oh yeah now we can see what they really look like and it kind of seems normal. arrghghghg…. but that aside yes I do like their songs and what they’re saying….. maybe I’m missing a point…..”

“Pronounced “male”, Ireland’s M(h)aol burst onto the scene earlier this year, bringing something different to the post-punk genre. Their debut EP Gender Studies will be released this Friday 29th October, via TULLE.

Following title track ‘Gender Studies, today the five-piece share new single ‘No One Ever Talks To Us’ which we’re told addresses the value of being in a mainly female band in a genre known for mainly men, and feeling bored of the conversation we’ve been having for decades.

Singer Róisín Nic Ghearailt says, “’No One Ever Talks To Us’ is an amalgamation of our own personal experiences of being in a predominantly female band in a predominantly male genre, but also a synthesis of the autobiographical experiences of Carrie Brownstein, Kim Gordon, Kathleen Hanna etc, and how so often your value in this industry is based on whether the (men) around you find you attractive. I wanted the vocals to sound in parts like I was bored, which is true. We’ve been having this conversation for decades. It’s time to move it on.”

The video was made by the band’s own Zoe Greenway, and inspired by a combination of Barbara Creed’s The Monstrous Feminine, Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror and Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body, media that portrays women’s roles in horror.

“I think somewhere inside of every girl they can relate to this idea of feeling like ‘My power has been taken away from me and what would I do if I got all of that power and then some back.’ I imagine that’s one of the things that they relate to: That vicarious letting loose, what’s referred to in our hippie circles as ‘the inner wild woman,’ ‘the inner wild witch’ that we all have. That is an archetype.” – Megan Fox on Jennifer’s Body

“This idea of women expressing themselves sexually and using their power against men is completely abject to a society that is run by men.” – Barbara Creed

“An empowered sexual woman is a threat to the male self, and therefore it is seen as abject. An empowered sexual woman is a danger to the norm, and is seen as monstrous to those it threatens to dethrone.” – Julia Kristeva

M(h)aol will be playing a small batch of dates in the UK this November, with tickets on sale now here.

1st November – Rough Trade, Bristol
2nd November – The Hug And Pint, Glasgow
3rd November – The Talleyrand, Manchester
4th November – The Shacklewell Arms, London
12th November – The Workman’s Club, Dublin
11th March – Supersonic, Paris

And the EP details and more more more via Bandcamp

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Oh, hang on, what’s this, there is more history….