4.52am Issue: 003 9th October 2016

SUSIE BLUE
People like Us
Well, this is a first for us. For a start, so far,
we have only featured bands and artists
that have albums under their belts, big tours
and festivals over their shoulders. But that
really isn’t what 4.52am is all about – I want
it to be somewhere you find out about new
bands, new artists, new music, not just
somewhere you can check out the latest
chapter in somebody famous’s story.
So that is why Susie Blue are here, because
we think they are special, that they have
greatness ahead of them, not just a memory
in the rear view camera of their Range
Rover.
So what makes them so special?
For a start, I love the passion Susie Blue
have for righting wrongs and the fact that
they write seriously cool songs to get their
point across. It is really easy to be cynical
about such things, easy to Bono-ify people
who care.
So who are they?
Well, the Derry four piece are epic tubthumper,
John Goodman, throbbing thickstringer
Mark Doherty, the uber cool player
that is guitarist Caolan Moore and the sirenvoiced
Susan Donaghy who together create
a wonderful explosion of edgy panic before
blowing everything away with a super cool
chorus.
And for those of you confused by my
listing the band members (as I never,
ever, list the band members), I did it for a
reason as I think these names will be
ones that trip off everybody’s tongues
further down the line, as in Donaghy they
have a singer that could eclipse any
southern Sinead or Delores, and not just
because of her voice, but because there is
some serious song-writing going on here,
for you can have nuances and passion in
indie-pop, even if too many others have
gone for the ‘biscuit cutter’ approach
instead.
In fact this may well be the only
historically significant review I ever write,
so bear it in mind and maybe print it out
and stick it on your wall to yellow-fade, so
that for ever more the cool kids will know
you got it first and you got it well.
But I shouldn’t glide over the fact that
People Like Us deals with serious issues
and the fact that as a band they have
been brave enough (and even in 2016 it
is still brave, to our eternal shame) to
make a video that deals with ‘gay
bashing’ and intolerance generally. I
snuck the chance to ask Susan what her
feeling on the song were, and she very
nicely didn’t call security:
"People like us is a song we wanted to
write for people who don't feel like they