Richard BodinThe Love Buzz is a band on the rise, and definitely one to keep an eye on. I’ll admit, I may be a little late to the party—but hey, better late than never! I discovered them recently during an acoustic session at Steamboat Records for this year’s Record Store Day. Their raw energy took me back twenty-odd years, to the era of ’90s alt-rock and the early-2000s garage revival. I picked up their most recent EP No Different, released last year, for a closer listen.
Meet The Love Buzz
Formed just before COVID hit, The Love Buzz had only played three gigs before the restrictions came in and sent everyone home. But they saw it as an opportunity to create. They wrote a lot of music, filmed videos, and posted them online—since, well, people didn’t have much else to do but watch. They started building an audience, and when live music finally returned, they hit the ground running with a gig at the iconic Cork venue Cyprus Avenue. After such a long stretch without gigs, it was a much-needed blast of energy—for the band, and for everyone in the crowd.
Since then, they haven’t looked back. Their debut EP Here Comes The Scum arrived in 2021. They’ve supported rising Irish acts like NewDad and Sultans of Ping F.C., and even opened for The Darkness on their Irish tour in early 2022. By 2023, they were playing five sets over four days at Glastonbury. In 2024, they took things international with a show in India, headlined Cork’s New Blood festival, played Electric Picnic, and recorded their follow-up EP No Different.
No Different – Punky, Glammy, and Grunge-Laced
Named after Nirvana’s debut single—originally a cover of a Dutch garage-rock track by The Shocking Blue—The Love Buzz wear their influences proudly. You can hear them loud and clear from the moment No Different kicks off. The EP is a riotous blend of power pop hooks, punk energy, glam-rock swagger, and tongue-in-cheek lyrics. On tracks like Pretty Happy Alone and Wild One, they channel the sharp, stylish sounds of The Strokes or The Hives. Elsewhere, the title track leans into grungier territory, echoing Nirvana and the Pixies.
Not Indifferent to No Different
One thing’s for sure: No Different doesn’t leave me indifferent. Just like the acoustic teaser I caught at Steamboat, the EP sends me straight back to my younger days—when I was just waking up to the full, electric charge of rock’n’roll. The Love Buzz may not be reinventing the genre, but they’re damn good at what they do. And that’s what makes them exciting. They’re just getting started, and with a debut album already in the works, I’m eager to see what comes next.
