SXSW 2012

From Jim Caligiuri, The Austin Chronicle:

Music From Ireland is an arts collective set up to promote Irish talent at international conventions. Acts must first be invited to events like SXSW, then MFI steps in with support. Patrick Kelleher & His Cold Dead Hands kick things off with a dance-synth sound that brings to mind the post-New Wave mod Eighties. Golden Syrup, released last year, added a goth edge to the quintet's disco. Lisa O'Neill, a new folk firebrand, was personally invited to open and perform with David Gray on his most recent tour. Currently one of Dublin's best live acts, Squarehead is threepiece garage band with Buzzcocks-like hooks and near-Beach Boys harmonies. Critically acclaimed throughout the UK, Belfast's Cashier No. 9 is an unclassifiable pop band that's drawn comparisons to such dissimilar acts as the Stone Roses, Byrds, and Flaming Lips. The Minutes play with a bare-bones urgency that's earned them a rep as "the greatest rock & roll band in Dublin." The trio's boozy debut took heavy inspiration from Thin Lizzy. Winners of the Northern Irish Music Awards Best Live Band, Belfast's And So I Watch You From Afar are an incredibly inventive post-punk instrumental band.