Two Limerick brothers now making their name in Liverpool are releasing their debut single on St Patrick’s Day, almost a year after leaving the Treaty City.
The debut single ‘20 Pints To Cherbourg’ by ‘The Guzzlers’ was born aboard a Dublin-to-France ferry where Tom and Cian O’Dowd found themselves earning their keep playing Irish songs. On one rowdy but especially fortunate trip involving a number of pints, the two immortalised a near miss of their ticket back home.
“We wrote the song after getting fired from a ferry gig for drinking too many pints. It’s a love letter to bad decisions, late-night sessions and the kind of stories your mom doesn’t need to know about. Some bands write heartbreak songs; we wrote one about drinking 20 pints. It’s all related to love.”
In the run-up to the release, the pair have been performing the song in a different Liverpool venue each day as part of their 20-stop pub tour, which will end in a finale at the Jacaranda.
Reputation grew further with a residency at Anfield, playing for arriving fans at every Liverpool FC home game this season and a special guest slot alongside ‘The Highstool Prophets’ at Liverpool Academy in January.
Last December the band entered the studio with producer Jon Withnall, who has been involved with big names including Coldplay, Rihanna, and Echo and the Bunnymen. The duos first album, set to release this autumn, takes a mix of inspiration from their own lives as well as the lives of the greats in Irish folk.