It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day, which means many people will be looking for some cool free Irish Music to play at parties and stuff. We’re here to help make your search a little easier–and to prove that Ireland has more to offer than just U2.

Having sold hundreds of millions of albums combined, Ireland’s most popular artists are:
U2
Enya
Van Morrison
The Cranberries
The Corrs

However, with the exception of Van Morrison, these bands all kinda suck. You might be able to make an argument defending U2, but only if you stopped buying their records like 10 years ago. We know, everybody loves Bono, but we want you to know there is more to Irish Music than that.

In honor of the impending arrival of St. Patrick’s Day, we’re offering up a list of 17 Irish bands that we’d rather listen to than U2. It doesn’t mean they’re the best, it just means, we like ‘em more than U2

So, pour yourself a nice, cold green mug o’something and enjoy the tunes!

17 Irish Bands Better Than U2

Soft Sounds:
The Frames
Damien Rice
Snow Patrol—”Hands Open”
If mellow music is your thing, you might enjoy The Frames, singer Glen Hansard just won an Oscar for his work on the Once Soundtrack.

Rowdy Rockers:
Pogues
Black 47
If you like your music with a little fiery flair, check out these two groups. The Pogues are known for their wild take on traditional fare while Black 47 are ex-pats spreading political tunes from NYC.

‘60s Classic:
Them—“It’s All Over Now Baby Blue”
Featuring a young Van Morrison on vocals, Them is a ’60s soul/rock group widely known for hits such as “Gloria.”

’70 Fun:
Thin Lizzy—“The Boys are Back in Town”
Stiff Little Fingers
Undertones
Boomtown Rats—“I Don’t Like Mondays”
Guitar rock? Punk? New Wave? These bands have it all covered.

‘90s Noise:
My Bloody Valentine—“Only Shallow”
Therapy?
Ash

Belfast’s Therapy? offers dark, catchy punk fun on classic tracks like “Screamager,” while the recently reunited My Bloody Valentine blazes a trail of noisey guitar experimentation and dreamy shoegaze jamming.

Traditional Favorites:
Hothouse Flowers
The Chieftains
The Chieftains stick to performing traditional Irish tunes, while the Hothouse Flowers mix traditional Irish influences with contemporary soul, rock and pop.

And finally…
Enya
Sinead O’Connor–”Nothing Compares 2 U”
–Just kidding. We hate U2, but we have limits.

If none of these bands are your cup of tea, then check out more at this cool Irish Rock site.

Know some great Irish bands we should check out? Leave a comment and tell us what’s on your list!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 9:16 am and is filed under Music Downloads, Rock Music, Irish Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.