Dublin's Sour Seeds launch their second EP Always Never tonight, the follow up to last year's Find You First. Darragh Cullen, Seany Lay, Brian Reynolds, and Mikey Deasy formed the band in 2013. It is rare to see a band where the drummer sings, rarer still for the guitarist to also play saxophone.

The standard of bands in the Irish capital is as high as it has ever been and The Sour Seeds are no exception. The rhythm section is simultaneously solid and inventive, giving the lead guitar and saxophone room to manoeuvre. The band are effortlessly tight embellishing their bluesy rock ‘n’ roll with little flourishes that set them apart.

There is good banter in between songs and it feels like we're amongst friends. Some well chosen covers flesh out the original numbers to a full length set and get the crowd up dancing.

After the show we talked with the Sour Seeds about the EP, their future plans, and porn moustaches.

MG - What are your memories of recording the EP?

Seany - We were going to record an album. We recorded an album in two or three days, about 7 or 8 songs but it would have cost too much to get everything mastered. So we said we'll just do an EP.

Darragh - We have a few tracks left over for some singles over the next couple of months.

MG - Some of the stuff you played tonight?

Yeah. A few of those were recorded but didn't make the EP so they'll be coming out later on.

MG - So it was a prime set tonight of A-material?

Darragh - Yeah we’ve actually been going for about two years now.

Mikey - Except for me.

MG - How did you get into the band Mikey?

Mikey - I knew Darragh already. Steve, the old bass player, had to leave. There was a thing on Facebook saying Sour Seeds are looking for a bass player and I wasn't in a band at the time so I put my name into the hat.

Darragh - Then he messaged me and that was grand. Then about 4 months later it was “Oh yeah, we still need a bass player!” We sent Mikey a message as soon as we recorded it, which about this time last year then waited til about Xmas to get going again, so lazy! So we called Mikey again.

MG - That sounds like every band I’ve ever been in; “Am I actually in the band?...”

Mikey - That’s what’s going through my head right now! But I don’t actually have an answer to it yet.

Seany - Yeah, yeah, you’re in.

Mikey - Phew, thanks Seany! I’ve got the beard anyway.

Brian - If you can grow a beard, you’re in, that’s the rule.

MG - The only reason we're here tonight is for Mikey's hair.

Mikey - This is since the haircut! It used to be higher.

Seany - You should see him with the moustache, he’s like a ‘70s porn star. I used to play the wah-wah every time he walked into the room.

Darragh - We do a lot of porno soundtracks, some slap bass and wah-wah, we bring the boom chicka wah.

MG - You mix up the old blues stuff and more modern versions like The Black Keys and White Stripes. It's something that is coming back into vogue again.

Seany - To be honest, I don't think that was a conscious thing. It's just our taste in music. We love Black Keys and White Stripes. We were jamming a Bob Dylan song and I started jamming ‘Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground’ and it was, “Yeah fuck it, let’s do that”.

MG - Your drummer is a singer, like Phil Collins and …?

Seany - Jack White did it, Josh Homme a bit in Eagles Of Death Metal ...

Darragh - There's a really good band called Jellyfish. They had a singing drummer. Phil Collins is ok though, I’m fine with that.

Seany - When we started the band it was just me and Darragh. I wanted to do something like The Dead Weather, synthy kind of stuff. And we were looking for a singer. We couldn't find a singer anywhere. So we said “Darragh, you sing. And I think you should play the drums as well”.

Darragh - I said “sure”. I’m a guitar player first so it's nice to get to hit things. I was playing guitar and the drumming was a hobby so it's nice to bash things around.

Brian - Darragh's just a multi talented guy.

MG - So no current album plans?

Darragh - I think for the moment we're going to stick to EPs and singles.

Seany - We’re going in to record the next EP next week. Then maybe another EP, or maybe an album. We’ll see how it goes. We usually write a song a day.

Darragh - The next one is definitely an EP, and maybe a few singles. Then after that we’ll think about an album but we like doing the EPs at the moment. It’s short and sweet.

Seany - We get to look like we're a lot more busy than we actually are.

Darragh - We're also very impulsive.

MG - Do you think EPs are the way forward?

Darragh - Probably, they're cheaper to make, for indie bands definitely. You get to hear what the band is about in a short amount of time rather than listening through a whole album. Plus the activity side of it. We say that messing, but it is true. We want to make it look like we're doing something and keep it in people’s minds. It’s good to look active. You need a fanbase before you can release an album. Keep the buzz going and keep the gigs going.

With the EPs, you can put out your best 3/4 songs, and then do that again for the next one, and you're continually putting out A-material.

Seany - Yeah, we still look at an EP like an album; to sound like an album does, like an experience from start to finish. Like a cohesive whole rather than a bunch of songs we like.

MG - With Spotify, Grooveshark and the like, do people still write an album from start to finish?

Darragh - I think a lot of the bands that we listen to still do that, like The Black Keys. But there is so much choice now. It’s so much easier and cheaper to record these days. There are so many avenues you can go down. You can do albums or singles, do EPs, do an album, do a triple album. Maybe we’ll do that. And then the greatest hits.

Mikey - The greatest hits tour will be just after Xmas, book tickets now!

MG - And the reunion tour?

Seany - Yeah, Brian has a drug addict thing going on, heroin or something?

Brian - Panadol, man, the hard stuff!

MG - How did you get together?

Seany - We met in college. There was a guy called Alex Jordan, who is still playing under the name Alex Jordan & Co.

Darragh - I was a Co. The bass player in & Co.

Seany - Darragh was playing bass, Alex was singing and Darragh was going to play drums too. We started the band with Alex and me and Brian decided to get Alex out of the band! And get Darragh in.  No, he's a great guy. That was him leading the dancing tonight.

Darragh - But that band fell through. And then me and Sean decided to form a band, and Brian came along too with his lovely saxophone.

Seany - Then we found Steve, the old bass player. We started gigging. We did the first EP with Steve.

Darragh - We actually did this one with Steve as well. We recorded and he went to America. He’s still in America. He was going off and we had a week to find a studio before he left. The studio that we usually go to was all booked up. We recorded it on the Tuesday and he left on the Thursday. Then we did the overdubs without him. And we got Mikey in. And now he's our man. And we did this interview ...

MG - Anyone you want to give a shout out to?

Yes, Brandon O'Rourke who did the posters. He’s class. If anyone needs any artwork, he's cheap, he does great work and he's also a good dancer.

Always Never is available here.

Always Never is the second EP from Dublin's The Sour Seeds following last year's Find You First. Darragh Cullen, Seany Lay, Brian Reynolds and Mikey Deasy met as session musicians in 2013. They have quickly established themselves in the Dublin music scene and have already become a mainstay on the festival circuit. Sour Seeds look set to spread further with this release.

The set up is pretty straightforward with two distinctive guitars over the rhythm section with occasional flourishes of organ and saxophone. The result is a collection of pop songs that are experimental without being arch, and progressive without forgetting to be entertaining. It taps the same vein as bands like Everything Everything and Alt-J, who have managed to straddle the mainstream and alternative scenes achieving commercial success without dumbing down.

There is a tremendous amount of space in the lead single 'Can't Bring Me Down'. Hearing such dynamic, expansive music is a rarity. Always Never is the soundtrack to the Christmas Day football match in No Man's Land in the midst of the 'Loudness War'.

The clean rhythm guitar chimes on 'Painful Dance' bring to mind The Cars, Frank Zappa, surf rock, and old style rock 'n' roll without ever sounding retro. The lead guitar shines without attempting to steal the spotlight. Rather it reflects its sheen back onto the song illuminating the rest of the band.

Always Never would certainly benefit from the addition of some vocal harmonies but this is real high quality music that matches intelligent instrumental play with a pop sensibility in an instinctive, effortless fashion. Imagine Joe Jackson covering the Pixies and you wouldn't be too far away.