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KÍLA Gamblers' Ballet RMG ***

There's no taking away from the primal energy that epitomises Kíla's live performances. In studio their visceral force sometimes struggles to reach the surface, but Gamblers' Ballet rarely falls victim to that ailment. The band's instincts are as driven as ever here, although there's a certain predictability about Rónán Ó Snodaigh's vocals: his fondness for chant-like repetition and syllabic somersaults are corralled by a limited vocal range. Still, Kíla's democratic spirit serves them well, with compositions contributed by no less than five of its members. Eoin Dillon's Boy Racer conjures a cheeky wild west theme park awash with stray androids, its CinemaScope vista suggesting a band at the peak of its confidence. Still, at times Kíla's dilettantism irks rather than tickles the eardrums, tiptoeing across the surface rather than delving beneath. www.kila.ie SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks: Boy Racer, Cardinal Knowledge