The oddly named new Irish band Basht were recommended to me last weekend by music-loving friends over from Dublin. I love them!

I hope their ascent doesn’t get hamstrung by comparisons to their more successful compatriots, so I’ll refrain from using the F-word in relation to their postpunk sound, filled with distorted guitars.

The songs of Jack Leavey (vocals/lyrics), Louis Christle (bass), Lughaidh Armstrong Mayock (lead guitar) and Ryan McClelland (drums) share a theme of challenging power structures, politics and religion – which is of course the same thing in Ireland.

This song first caught my ear with its melancholy air and poetic lyric, ostensibly about a disintegrating marriage, observed from a son’s point of view.

It uses its title – Perfume – as a metaphor for the enduring toxicity of the Catholic church, a fading force perhaps but still a powerful influence in Ireland, on family life.

“Can’t hide the scent of turpentine in cheap perfume,” sings Leavey, articulating the shame and corruption behind the respectable facade of the church, as the music collapses into distortion and noise.

I’ll be listening to more; not least because they have a song on their recently released album, Poor Advice, whose chorus contains the couplet: “I’ll call you daily, hold you tightly / Ring your bell like Keira Knightley.”