Straight up, these are some of the most catchiest tunes I’ve heard recently. I challenge you to listen to Zero Bucks Given and not sing along with at least one of the songs. Zero Bucks Given is Dónal Gunning’s sophomore EP and is a significant departure from his 2024 acoustic/folk release Born to Perform. Dónal has traded in the acoustic for a thumping Music-Man bass to lead the charge on this hard rocking offering.
The opening track, Gimme More opens with the driving energy of late 90’s punk, but then changes to a slower tempo for more of a grunge feel towards the latter part of the song. It’s almost as if Dónal merged two incomplete songs together à la McCartney/Lennon. It works – but I can’t help wishing that each part had been fleshed out into two separate songs, mostly because of the overall short run time of the entire EP.
If you’re a follower of the New Zealand music scene on social media, you would’ve undoubtedly seen a reel or excerpt of the music video Losing Weight (if you haven’t, go watch it – it’s fantastic). This song is so positively upbeat with an absolute earworm of a chorus, I cannot step on my bathroom scales without singing it under my breath even when the needle points in the wrong direction.
The crunching rhythm guitar in the intro of Satellite had me expecting Rob Halford to open up on vocals. It is definitely an homage to hard rock bands like Motley Crue and Judas Priest. Unapologetically all sex, drugs and rock’n’roll with a chorus that invites audience participation to raucous sing-along.
Your 1 finishes the EP with a pepperish vibe. Dónal spits out the lyrics with a fierce Celtic lilt, while the guitar and bass groove hard together for the verse and chorus before parting at the bridge to build to an absolute funked-up bass slapping break-down that Flea would be proud of.
Zero Bucks Given is tragically short. Much like an opportunistic shag in your lunch break, it’s fast, energetic, hits the spot – however there is very little foreplay, certainly no cuddling afterwards and five minutes later you’ll find yourself wanting to do it all over again.
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About the author Sean Moynihan
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now, what I’m with isn’t ‘it’, and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you…”
