Noise Annoys: Cherym do Doja Cat, Sister Ghost go as Gaelige and Fraulein get high, Oisin Leech’s Cold Sea is album of the week, plus incoming live shows

Cherym – Boss Bitch (single, Alcopop!)

HAPPY International Women’s Day from Derry’s Cherym, whose gift to you and indeed the world is a punk rocking cover of Doja Cat’s Boss Bitch, which transplants the sass and thump of DC’s original banger from the dancefloor to the moshpit via swathes of crunchy guitar riffage.

It really works well, not least because Cherym somehow manage to make the hookline even hookier than the original in the process. Pairing this with a cover of Doja ballad Bottom Bitch would have made a great double-A-side package, but the inclusion of Colourblind from their debut album Take it Or Leave It on the virtual flip is perhaps a cannier move: it ensures that Cherym-curious Dojafans drawn in by the headlining cover also get a taste of the band’s top-drawer original product on the (B-)side. Smart.

The track is available to stream pretty much everywhere from today and is also available as a free download. See, told ya it was a gift.

“We’ve always felt drawn to Doja Cat’s originality and her take on femininity, which is why we felt so connected to this track in particular,” explains Cherym guitarist and singer extraordinaire Hannah Richardson.

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“Boss Bitch to us is empowering, energetic and has what we would call ‘raw bad bitch energy’. The first time I watched the Boss Bitch music video it really conveyed to me what a strong woman is, being able to see life through the lens of a woman instead of being subjected to the male gaze.

“This is something we wanted to portray for our own version of the song, conveying femininity, masculinity or anything in between through our own self autonomy rather than what’s expected of us as women and femme presenting people.”

Recently returned from well-received live work in the Eurozone, the band have just announced a rake of festival dates across the water in addition to their imminent shows supporting Enter Shikari in Ireland – March 21 and 22 at Dublin’s Academy and March 23 at The Limelight in Belfast – and opening for The Undertones on their German jaunt this September.

Fill your boots at ilovealcopop.co.uk/collections/cherym

Sister Ghost – Cailleach Nua-Aoise (single, self-released)

ONWARDS to yet more Derry-sent sounds courtesy of Sister Ghost, who have chose to mark Seachtain na Gaeilge – that’s Irish Language Week for our Protestant readers – by serving up a special as Gaeilge version of their previously released indie rock cracker New Age Witch, one of the highlights from 2021′s Stay Spooky EP.

It’s a slightly more muted, lo-fi affair in its re-recorded form, but at least none of the original’s instant catchiness has been lost in translation – and the guitar soloing towards the end is still sublime.

Crank up the volume good and loud to annoy your DUP-voting neighbours right now at sisterghost.bandcamp.com, and mark up your diary with a forthcoming Sister Ghost show: the band will join Susi Pagel and Aqua Tofana for a celebratory gig marking the 30th anniversary of Hole’s classic Live Through This album, which is happening on May 2 at Oh Yeah in Belfast.

Tickets are on sale now via cqaf.com.

Fraulein – Feels Like Flying (single, Submarine Cat)

IRISH/Dutch duo Fraulein’s new single offers two contrasting takes on the same basic song, which will bookend their forthcoming mini-album Sink or Swim.

Do you prefer the dreamy yet urgent one with a ‘(Day)’ suffix, which combines the sparse, atmospheric rumble of early PJ Harvey with splashes of soaring Anna Calvi-esque vocals, grungy guitars and background cacophony, or the more gentle, even-tempered charms of the sub-two minute take labelled ‘(Night)’?

Decide for yourself at frau13in.bandcamp.com, where you’ll also find their recent tune Wait and See, a controlled, simmering affair which occasionally blows its top in a melodically pleasing manner.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: OISIN LEECH - COLD SEA (OUTSIDE MUSIC)

HAVE you got half-an-hour to spare? You do? Well, away and make yourself a cup of tea, then sit down for a drink in your father’s favourite chair and have a listen to the debut solo album by Lost Brothers’ man Oisin Leech.

Clocking in at a soothing, hectic schedule-friendly 27 minutes, Cold Sea was recorded in the splendid isolation afforded by a remote sea-facing schoolhouse in Malin: clearly, this salty aired, far from the maddening crowd environment helped its creator conjure up a record packed with quiet, contemplative beauty that will transport listeners to a calming, folk-infused realm of songs fashioned from gently strummed/fingerpicked guitars, swelling strings/synths and the Co Navan man’s croonsome vocals.

You’ll already have heard its opening two tracks as singles, October Sun and Colour of The Rain: these easy-on-the-ear gems are front-loaded to welcome all with their intimate charms, priming lugs for the ‘lean-in’ listening experience to follow.

The gently swelling One Hill Further is enhanced by deftly deployed strings (courtesy of Róisín McGrory) and synth, while Maritime Radio offers a shipping forecast-based instrumental interlude prior to the hazy, lazy late-afternoon vibes of future single (to my ears anyway) Empire, which I think features some nice electric guitar embellishments courtesy of M Ward.

Malin Gales, which features Irish trad legend Donal Lunny on bouzouki, finger-picks its way through the long seagrass on a melancholy meander around the Inishowen headland, before the shimmery synths of the title track whisk us heavenwards for an ethereal moment of contemplation.

Trawbreaga Bay, again featuring Mr Lunny on his trusty Greek lute, is a beautiful sailor’s homecoming song fingerpicked from glass-calm waters while reflecting on stormier seas, a penultimate moment which safely deposits us at album-closer Daylight: this begins as another synthy, abstract number which makes a fine soundtrack for reflection, before delivering us safely back to reality with a final minute or so of gently fondled acoustic guitar.

Hardcore Losties will be in their element here, and new listeners with a taste for quieter, gentler tunes will also find much to savour on an album which demands repeated listens.

All can take a restorative dip in the Cold Sea today at ffm.to/cold_sea, while details of all Oisin’s imminent touring commitments - including show at The Deer’s Head in Belfast on May 7 - can be had from oisinleech.com.

GIG RADAR: INCOMING LIVE SHOWS

• Dearly Departed Sisters: Fundraiser for Women & Children of Gaza featuring Problem Patterns, Cheylene Beauty Sleep, Lauren Brand New Friend et al - March 8, Oh Yeah, Belfast

• Oisin Leech - May 7, The Deer’s Head, Belfast
• The Stranglers - March 11, Ulster Hall, Belfast / March 12, Olympia Theatre, Dublin
• Brand New Friend - March 14, Factory 61, Armagh

• Blue Whale - March 15, The Black Box, Belfast
• Wynona Bleach - March 15, Oh Yeah, Belfast
• Yard Act – March 19, Mandela Hall, Belfast / March 20, Vicar Street, Dublin

• Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) - March 20, The Academy, Dublin / March 21, Limelight 2, Belfast
• Makeshift Art Bar, Junk Drawer: Sundown Sessions – March 24, Court House, Bangor
• The Jesus and Mary Chain - March 25, Olympia Theatre, Dublin / March 26, The Limelight, Belfast

• Bill Ryder Jones - March 31, The Black Box, Belfast
• Hawkwind - April 8, Mandela Hall, QUBSU
• Rory Nellis (full band show) – April 12, Oh Yeah, Belfast
• Problem Patterns - April 25, Union Bar, Belfast / April 26, Workman’s Cellar, Dublin / April 27, Nerve Centre, Derry
• Jane Weaver – May 12, Ulster Sports Club, Belfast

• Gary Numan - May 17, Telegraph Building, Belfast

• Putting The Fast In Belfast 6: Stiff Little Fingers, The Damned, The Skids, Problem Patterns – August 17, Custom House Square, Belfast
• RIDE - September 2, Limelight, Belfast / September 3, Olympia, Dublin / September 4, Cyprus Avenue, Cork
• Therapy?: Troublegum 30 – October 31, Olympia, Dublin / November 2, Ulster Hall, Belfast