Melts are a band from Dublin that sound like the missing link between Joy Division and The Horrors, blending big post-punk guitars with psychedelic flourishes of organ and the detached vocals of Eoin Kenny.

In fact the band they most remind me of is another post-punk Irish band I remember seeing in Dublin’s long-gone Magnet Bar in the early ’80s called Chant! Chant! Chant! Sadly they disappeared soon afterwards and I’m sure no one except me remembers those guys (though I do have their only single in my collection).

Melts were formed from the ashes of a few other Dublin bands: Kenny was previously singer in The North Sea, who released the 2015 album Anniversary that spawned the excellent single December, and organist Robbie Brady was in psych bands The Things, Cheap Freaks and Exploding Eyes, who had a great single called I Panic.

Melts formed in 2017 and made their debut in 2018 with a brilliant single called Skyward and followed it with another called Outlier the following year. Their debut album, aptly titled Maelstrom, produced by Daniel Fox, bassist in The Gilla Band (formerly Girl Band), arrived in 2022.

Following tours with bands including Fontaines D.C. and TOY – whose sound is remarkably similar to theirs – last year they released its follow-up, Field Theory.

I’m disappointed to learn that singer Eoin Kenny has left Melts since this live clip was filmed, citing “personal commitments,” but pleased to hear that the band will continue as a trio with Robbie on organ and sequencer, guitarist Hugh O’Reilly and drummer Gaz Earle.

I hope they do because I feel like they’ve a lot more to offer.