REVIEW: Really Good Time - Affirmations

REALLY GOOD TIME isn’t just a band name, it’s a promise from the Dublin-based trio. Half-jokingly proclaiming they started out as an excuse to “get drunk and play late shows”, it wasn’t long before they realised they’d struck musical gold and have seen their efforts rewarded with accolades from media, coveted spots at festivals, and fellow bands shouting their praises. Having established themselves firmly in the scene on both sides of the Irish sea, they’re ready to unleash their debut album Affirmations in all its raucous glory.

Affirmations isn’t just their most audacious project to date, it’s a career marker for them as a band that set out to play at piss-ups and now sees them packing out rooms on headline tours. The debut album has them bringing their evolved garage punk meets prog-rock sound and satirical lyrical genius about the absurd human and Dublin-specific experience of doing what you’re told and still finding yourself 10 steps behind, stacking up a collection of tracks that stretch from less than 60 seconds interludes to huge 8-minute ensembles as REALLY GOOD TIME load in as many powerhouse rhythms as they can.

On Dublin Bus captures the universal feeling of escaping into your own head and playing out fantasies of grandeur while riding a crammed bus, the lyrics declaring “my ego is manifesting greatness” over Jacque le Coque’s pounding bass riff, the melody climbing to a fever-pitch finish. Their latest single Do It features Ado Tornado’s drumbeats as a callback to alt-rock beats from the 00s, guitar riffs from Wastefellow so juicy you could plate them and serve them up as a meal, as he brings a patronising sing-song tone to the theme of continuously trying to line up with life’s moving goalposts in a Sisyphean feat. Shit One is a sound that echoes classic QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE in its rhythms and technical layering, Wastefellow delivering a near-sultry level to the words before he bursts into a shriek over a chorus of backing vocals.

Jarring alarms blare out on The Love Song before the drums and strings thrash together, Coque’s bass keeping a relentless grip on the melody and only briefly falling away for the dreamy, shoegaze choruses begging an unseen entity “don’t think, don’t look away”, the track slowing dramatically and then galloping forward into a cacophony of frantic instruments. Bob Dylan Was On Pawnstars in 2010 is an odd bit of trivia to know but it appears to be a fact that haunts Wastefellow, the surrealness of music’s biggest heroes becoming cameos to stay known and how unforgiving fame truly is in the modern era. Best Medicine starts softly before a sudden onslaught of distorted riffs and beats cuts through, Tornado rupturing through the false calm of the verses with a jump-inducing beat alongside Wastefellow’s incredulous laughter, a.k.a. “the best medicine”.

Seven Slugs serves as a 40 second interlude as the calm, low-pitched lyrics tell you to take a breather and “let it all return to dust”, before letting it all come back up. The second part of Affirmations doesn’t just come back up, it brings a theatrical element to the remaining tracks, Dig Up, Stupid attacking with demands to “grab a shovel, just dig up” accompanied with foreboding riffs, a callback to a scene from The Simpsons but also taking a stab at people who do stupid things believing they’re entirely right and instead digging themselves further into ignorance. Where tracks may focus on certain technical elements over another, Toadman approaches the entire process to highlight its contrasting, note-precise melodies and searing guitar hooks against lyrics that examine how everyone is focused on whatever is going on in their insular world, Wastefellow wishing to know what everyone is truly thinking and whether there’s any originality left. 

Life, Life enters with a heartbeat riff as Wastefellow sings of a dreamt terrible omen telling him “it’s time for you to fix your life, or I’m gonna put my beak through your eye”, dark and ominous sounding riffs colliding together for a sound that’s almost folklore before it shifts back into racing prog-rock and despairing vocals. Secret track Peter Hayes Isn’t Who He Says He Is feels like a last madcap instrumental dash for REALLY GOOD TIME as they release their pent-up energy, a final cathartic rush after an album that embodies the feeling of “lurching from one panic attack to the next”, but refusing to surrender to nihilism and instead laughing at the absurdity of life.

Score: 8/10

Affirmations will be released on 7th August 2026.

Words: Julia Stark

Photos: Jasmin Grace